ENTITLED An Act to amend provisions pertaining to the processing of absentee ballots and to declare an emergency.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota:

Section 1. That § 12-19-10 be AMENDED:

12-19-10. Upon receipt of the sealed return envelope containing the voted ballots, the person in charge of the election or their designee shall mark the date of receipt on the envelope. The person in charge of the election shall keep the absentee ballot in a safe place without opening the envelope or breaking the seal thereof, and shall deliver it to the superintendent of the voter's home precinct, or to the absentee ballot counting board as provided in § 12-19-42. The person in charge of the election shall have the absentee ballots delivered with the election supplies, or if received later, then prior to the close of the polls.

If the person in charge of the election creates an absentee ballot precinct, pursuant to § 12-19-37, the person in charge of the election must deliver to the superintendent of each precinct, the list containing the names of each voter who voted by absentee ballot along with the election supplies. On election day, the person in charge of the election shall forward to a precinct superintendent any updates to the list of voters who voted by absentee ballot upon receipt of an absentee ballot.

If the precinct election board is not otherwise engaged in official duties, or if there are absentee ballots not processed when the polls close, immediately thereafter, the board must carefully compare the statement on the reverse side of the official return envelope with the written application received from the officer in charge of the election without opening or breaking the seal of the return envelope. The board shall omit the comparison of the statement and the application if the ballot is contained in a combined absentee ballot application form and return envelope.

The precinct election board or the precinct counting board shall enter the voter's name in the election pollbook and mark the registration list whether:

(1) The ballot received was voted by the voter whose name appears on the statement;

(2) The voter is registered in the precinct and has not previously voted in that precinct at the election; and

(3) The written application and statement were both signed by the voter.

The board shall then open the envelope without opening, unfolding, or examining the ballots the envelope may contain; stamp the ballots with the official stamp; and deposit the ballots with the other ballots cast at the election. If the board determines that an absentee ballot envelope cannot be opened because the envelope does not meet the requirements for opening, the reason for not opening the envelope must be written on the envelope, accompanied by the signature of a member of the board, and the envelope must be placed in a larger envelope for unopened absentee ballots.

It is a Class 2 misdemeanor for an individual, prior to the counting of the votes, to open, unfold, or examine any ballot, or make any communication to any other individual concerning the markings or contents of the ballot, or to create any record associating an individual voter with a ballot.

Section 2. That § 12-19-37 be AMENDED:

12-19-37. The person in charge of the election may create an absentee ballot precinct. Except as otherwise provided by this section, if the person in charge of the election creates an absentee ballot precinct, all absentee ballots cast at the election must be forwarded to the absentee ballot precinct for counting.

If the person in charge of the election creates an absentee ballot precinct, the person in charge of the election shall create a pollbook using the data provided in the electronic voter registration system, listing the name of each voter who voted by absentee ballot in the jurisdiction and the type of ballot the voter cast.

The election board of the absentee ballot precinct is the absentee ballot counting board. There may be only one absentee ballot counting board at any time in a county.

Section 3. That § 12-19-41 be AMENDED:

12-19-41. Except as otherwise specified in §§ 12-19-37 to 12-19-52, inclusive, the powers and duties of an absentee ballot counting board are the same as those of precinct election officials in a regular precinct polling place.

An absentee counting board shall:

(1) Receive, from the person in charge of the election, all absentee ballots for all precincts in the jurisdiction of the person in charge of the election; and

(2) Process and count each absentee ballot received from the person in charge of the election.

Section 4. That § 12-19-43 be AMENDED:

12-19-43. If in the judgment of the person in charge of the election it is necessary to convene the absentee counting board prior to the closing of the polls on election day, the person in charge of the election may direct the board to meet during regular business hours on the day before the election and on election day prior to the closing of the polls for the purpose of processing absentee ballots, pursuant to § 12-19-10. If the person in charge of the election convenes the absentee counting board on the day before the election, the board may only process the absentee ballots, as provided in § 12-19-10, and may not manually count any ballots or use the automatic tabulating equipment to count the ballots.

The absentee ballots may be counted by the automatic tabulating equipment on election day, prior to the closing of the polls, provided that any vote totals are not printed or displayed by any tabulating machine prior to the closing of the polls. The absentee ballot counting board may not manually count the absentee ballots prior to the closing of the polls.

If ballots are processed by an automatic tabulating machine prior to the closing of the polls, the resolution board shall be present and notification of such processing shall be provided to each county party chairperson at least ten days before the election.

Section 5. That § 12-19-44 be AMENDED:

12-19-44. The process of sorting, validating, processing, and counting absentee ballots must be open to poll watchers for the purpose of observing the process.

A poll watcher shall keep a reasonable distance from ballots and identification information to protect the privacy of absentee voters. No record associating an individual voter with a ballot may be created.

A violation of this section is a Class 2 misdemeanor.

Section 6. That § 12-19-45 be AMENDED:

12-19-45. The person in charge of the election shall preserve a record of the name, post office address, and voting precinct of each applicant for an absentee ballot and shall personally deliver the record to the absentee ballot counting board. The person in charge of the election shall keep a record of the name of the authorized messenger requesting an absentee ballot to be delivered to another voter.

Section 7. That § 12-19-46 be AMENDED:

12-19-46. If the absentee ballot counting board did not begin to process or tabulate the absentee ballots on election day prior to the closing of the polls, pursuant to § 12-19-43, the board must immediately, upon the close of the polls, commence:

(1) Processing each absentee ballot, pursuant to § 12-19-10; and

(2) Counting the absentee ballots.

Section 8. That § 12-19-47 be REPEALED.

Section 9. Whereas, this Act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, an emergency is hereby declared to exist, and this Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage and approval.

An Act to amend provisions pertaining to the processing of absentee ballots and to declare an emergency.