Counties fend off storm of election-related lawsuits • South Dakota Searchlight

Some county officials in South Dakota are still grappling with a spate of election-related litigation that began last spring, despite several losses by plaintiffs alleging violations of election laws and after a judge dismissed one lawsuit’s allegations as “not fully developed” and “illogical”.

At least a dozen county auditors have received petitions from residents this year seeking to ban voting technology such as electronic tabulators and require hand counting in future elections. Three counties — Gregory, Haakon and Tripp — accepted petitions this summer and placed them on the June primary, where voters rejected all three measures.

The petitioners in South Dakota include people who believe former President Donald Trump’s false claims – rejected by dozens of courts – that President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory over Trump was fraudulent (Trump won in South Dakota in 2020). 2020 with 62% of the votes). The lawsuits in South Dakota come amid a broader atmosphere of harassment against county officials that has recently taken the form of activists accuses Minnehaha County commissioners of ‘treason’ for compliance with laws that allow people such as: B. Allow full-time RVers to register and vote in South Dakota.

Lawrence County has been an epicenter for lawsuits in South Dakota, but most have been dismissed. The lawsuits began after the county commission rejected petitions seeking to ban various forms of voting technology and require a hand count. The commission cited state and federal laws that require electronic voting systems for people with disabilities as reasons for the rejection.

A legal challenge to the commission’s rejection of those petitions remains, as does one of five lawsuits alleging that the June primary election results were invalid because of alleged improper use of tabulating machines. Another open case in Charles Mix County is challenging a hand count petition that was also rejected.

In these two counties alone, eight “election integrity” lawsuits have been filed since last spring.

What are the arguments?

Nichole Braithwait, who introduced and circulated the Lawrence County hand count petition, argues that county commissioners don’t have the authority Reject a properly submitted petition with enough signatures to support a public vote. The power to decide the legality of a petition rests with the courts and not with the commissioners, their statement of claim says.

Braithwait is associated with South Dakota Canvassing, the group that has helped coordinate statewide petition efforts aimed at calling for a hand count at the county level.

“I am confident that we are on the right side of this issue and that people will eventually realize that our elections are run by companies that people have no control over,” Braithwait said in an emailed statement and added: “Our elections are selections.” ”