OCTOBER 9, 2024: The ACLU of South Dakota is asking South Dakota Secretary of State Monae Johnson for greater transparency regarding the circumstances surrounding the removal of 273 people from the state’s voter registration rolls and to immediately reinstate the voting rights of eligible voters. The ACLU says the systematic purge not only violates the National Voter Registration Act, but also carries the weight of potentially disenfranchising naturalized U.S. citizens who are legally eligible to vote. To prevent states from disenfranchising eligible voters, the National Voter Registration Act prohibits the conduct of systematic voter list maintenance “within 90 days preceding an election for federal office.” The removal of ineligible voters is permitted but must be based on individualized information or an investigation. “Voting is a sacred right and responsibility that is bestowed to American citizens — including naturalized American citizens. While the state can make individualized inquiries into specific voters with evidence to support its claims that an individual is not legally eligible to vote, it cannot enact blanket purges based on potentially inaccurate databases this close to the election,” said Samantha Chapman, ACLU of South Dakota advocacy manager. “The risk of disenfranchising eligible voters at this late stage is simply too high when voters have a mere 13 days before the voter registration deadline.” “The speedy reinstatement of these eligible voters is urgent as we quickly approach the November election,” Chapman said. “Each passing day restricts the options available to affected voters and unfairly denies them methods of voting that would otherwise be available to them.” The ACLU-SD says erroneously flagging legal voters as noncitizens can occur when outdated information is obtained. South Dakota driver’s licenses, for instance, are available to noncitizens who are lawful permanent residents and can remain valid for five years. This means people who obtained their driver’s licenses as noncitizens, subsequently became naturalized U.S. citizens and then lawfully registered to vote have unlawfully been purged from the voter rolls based on outdated information. There has been no evidence of widespread noncitizen voting in elections across the country, even as some have ramped up unproven claims. But power-hungry elected officials are still sowing fear and distrust in the electoral process. “Year after year, our elections have proven to be safe and secure and still, there is a concerted, nefarious effort by state officials to purge eligible citizens from the rolls based on stale data and dangerous lies,” Chapman said. “It’s irresponsible for politicians and others to be fanning the flames of misinformation and undermining trust in our elections. South Dakotans need to know that all eligible voters can have their voices heard at the ballot box. The ACLU will continue to work to ensure voters are protected from those who seek to spread lies and distrust in our elections.” South Dakota’s voter registration deadline for the Nov. 5 election is Oct. 21. Voters with questions about their voter registration or any aspect of voting should contact the nonpartisan Election Protection hotlines: 866-OUR-VOTE (English) 888-VE-Y-VOTA (Spanish) 844-YALLA-US (Arabic) 888-API-VOTE (Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Punjabi, Tagalog, Urdu, Vietnamese)   OCTOBER 8, 2024: The South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office is removing 273 noncitizens from the state’s voter list. Secretary of State Monae Johnson said the names were discovered as part of a review to ensure the integrity of South Dakota’s elections and to safeguard against improper voter registration. She says the Department of Public Safety discovered the need for the correction and worked with the state Bureau of Information and Telecommunications to implement a fix to make sure that only eligible citizens are participating. Johnson says ensuring the integrity of South Dakota elections is the SOS Office’s highest priority. She says they worked closely with DPS to resolve this issue. There are 682,031 total registered voters in South Dakota. Of those, the SOS’s Office considers 617,396 active voters.