A federal judge will decide whether South Dakota’s secretary of state is violating the U.S. Constitution with allegedly misleading letters to voters registered as federal-only, and by allegedly failing to tell them how to change their status.
Judge Eric Schulte heard oral arguments Friday and said he expects to release a decision next week.
The case deals with how the state’s chief elections officer is implementing legislation approved by lawmakers and signed into law by Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden in March.
The law requires new voter registrations to include proof of citizenship, which can include a birth certificate, passport, driver’s license, non-driver’s identification card or tribal identification card, or “any other type of acceptable documentary evidence of citizenship” permitted under federal law. Photocopies are acceptable for any documents except driver’s licenses or state or tribal identification.
People who don’t provide those documents are registered but receive a “federal-only” ballot, which lists only candidates for federal offices such as the president and Congress, but not state or local offices.
A separate provision, passed in 2025 and implemented in January, requires voters registering or requesting an absentee ballot with only a mail-forwarding service or post office box as their address to receive federal-only ballots unless they can provide a physical address and prove 30 days of state residency.
The lawsuit asks a judge to force the state to:
- Accept photocopies of driver’s licenses, tribal IDs and nondriver IDs for voter registration.
- Rescind guidance requiring in-person registration for people who use such IDs as proof of citizenship.
- Make sure registrants designated as federal-only are offered accurate explanations as to why they’ve been denied access to state and local ballots.
- Offer voters registered as federal-only an opportunity to challenge the designation.
Schulte heard arguments Friday specifically about the notification letters sent to voters registered as federal-only.
The lawsuit was filed by the League of Women Voters — a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that conducts registration drives, provides voter education and lobbies on voting rights issues — and by a Sioux Falls resident, Jaysen Hill. They’re suing South Dakota Secretary of State Monae Johnson and the state Board of Elections.
The Secretary of State’s Office writes letters sent to new voters by county auditors informing them of their federal-only status. But those letters cite only the mail-forwarding address issue as the reason — even for voters whose status stems from failing to provide citizenship documentation, American Civil Liberties Union attorney William Hancock argued on behalf of the League.
You can read the full article at South Dakota Searchlight.