State official says employee error led to 273 non-US citizens on voter rolls

Date:

Department blamed for mistake pushes back, says it ‘does not register voters or determine eligibility’

BY: JOSHUA HAIAR, South Dakota Searchlight

The South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office is blaming the state Department of Public Safety for errors that allowed 273 non-U.S. citizens to register to vote, and the department is pushing back.

Rachel Soulek, director of the Division of Elections in the Secretary of State’s Office, placed blame on the department in her response to South Dakota Searchlight questions about the situation.

“These non U.S. citizens had marked ‘no’ to the citizenship question on their driver’s license application but were incorrectly processed as U.S. citizens due to human error by the Department of Public Safety,” Soulek wrote.

Noncitizens can obtain a driver’s license or state ID if they are lawful permanent residents or have temporary legal status. There’s a part of the driver’s license form that allows an applicant to register to vote. That part says voters must be citizens. 

Searchlight shared Soulek’s statement with the Department of Public Safety on Thursday. The department responded with a statement from Secretary Robert Perry.

“The Department of Public Safety does not register voters or determine eligibility,” Perry’s statement said. “It submits driver license applicant information to the Secretary of State’s Office to review for voter registration purposes in accordance with federal law.”

State election offices such as the Secretary of State’s Office are responsible for reviewing submitted registration forms, according to the Bipartisan Policy Institute. Verification can involve cross-referencing databases, such as the Social Security Administration or state records, to confirm the applicant’s eligibility.

The improper registrations are being purged, state officials said earlier this week

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, while noncitizen voting is illegal in federal elections, mistakes can occur during the registration process. They say such mistakes are typically accidental and not driven by malicious intent.

Soulek said only one of the 273 noncitizens had ever cast a ballot. That was during the 2016 general election.

Searchlight sought the added information after the Department of Public Safety issued a news release Monday announcing it had worked with the Secretary of State’s Office and the state Bureau of Information and Telecommunications to purge the noncitizens from voter rolls. 

“This discovery was part of a review to ensure the integrity of South Dakota’s elections and safeguard against improper voter registration,” the news release said.

The department said nothing further in the news release about how the noncitizens were discovered on the voter rolls, how they became registered in the first place, what counties they registered in, or whether any of the noncitizens had ever cast a ballot.

Department spokesman Brad Reiners, who shared the news release with South Dakota media, initially responded Monday to Searchlight questions about the news release by saying “the press release speaks for itself” and referring questions to the Secretary of State’s Office. 

The American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota alleged Tuesday that the state violated the National Voter Registration Act. The act prohibits voter list maintenance within 90 days of a federal election unless it’s based on individualized information or investigations, the ACLU said. 

Samantha Chapman, ACLU of South Dakota’s advocacy manager, said the state can make individualized inquiries into specific voters with evidence to support its claims that an individual is not legally eligible to vote, but “it cannot enact blanket purges based on potentially inaccurate databases this close to the election.” 

“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,” Chapman said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was updated with the addition of a statement from the secretary of the Department of Public Safety after it was received.

Counties where noncitizens registered to vote

Rachel Soulek, of the Secretary of State’s Office, said the 273 noncitizens were registered in the following counties. She did not provide a breakdown by county.

  • Aurora
  • Beadle
  • Brookings
  • Brown
  • Brule
  • Charles Mix
  • Clark
  • Clay
  • Codington
  • Corson
  • Custer
  • Davison
  • Deuel
  • Douglas
  • Grant
  • Hamlin
  • Hughes
  • Lake
  • Lawrence
  • Lincoln
  • Lyman
  • McCook
  • McLaughlin
  • Meade
  • Minnehaha
  • Moody
  • Pennington
  • Perkins
  • Potter
  • Roberts
  • Sanborn
  • Stanley
  • Sully
  • Todd
  • Tripp
  • Union
  • Walworth
  • Yankton

Original story: State officials remove 273 noncitizens from voter roll, but provide few other details

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence.

Share post:

spot_img

Related articles

Presidential pause in relocations

How the 2024 election impacts business and family moves. “This is about the stupidest year I’ve seen." By Megan...

Local Election Summary, voter turnout was high

Last Tuesday, the general election saw a high turnout of voters in South Dakota, with 69.93% of registered...

Ethanol cooperative kicks in another $400,000 to support carbon pipeline ballot question

By: Joshua Haiar, SD Searchlight             A cooperative that owns four ethanol plants has made a second $400,000 contribution to...

Businesses and interest groups drive spending against tax repeal measure

Proponent group’s finances are intermixed with abortion-rights campaign By: Joshua Haiar, SD Searchlight             Twenty-five South Dakota companies and organizations have...

Log In

Latest articles

Plahn vs Jacobson in City Council Ward 2 seat race

The City of Garretson had several seats coming open this election season, though only one seat will be...

Maras takes over as new Minnehaha County Highway Superintendent

By Dave Baumeister, County Correspondent SIOUX FALLS – The “interim” was dropped from his title when Jacob Maras was named...

Garretson School Board approves contracts for McGregor and Hoekman, amends contract of Superintendent Johnson

The Garretson School Board had a Special meeting on Monday, March 31. After two hours in executive session the...

4th Grade Wax Museum brings history to life!

Garretson Elementary 4th graders have been delving into biographical history, and the culmination of their project was a...

ROD announces resignation; commissioners accepting applications for unexpired term

SIOUX FALLS – Minnehaha County Register of Deeds Amanda Halsey has announced her resignation effective July 4.  Elected in...

Garretson Area Briefs

Adults Night Out, Ambulance Breakfast, Splitrock Bowling, I-90/Brandon Interchange Construction Adult Night Out The Garretson PTO will be hosting Adults...
s2Member®