Absentee voting is available on the third floor of the Minnehaha County building in downtown Sioux Falls, South Dakota, ahead of the city and school board election on April 9, 2024. (Photo by Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
A South Dakota board that oversees federal election grants approved funding Wednesday for satellite voting centers in three counties where travel distances have made it harder for Native Americans to cast ballots.
The state’s HAVA Grant Board, which administers federal money from the Help America Vote Act, met virtually to approve grant requests from Lyman, Oglala Lakota and Todd counties. Those counties are home to much of the Lower Brule, Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations.
Election 2026
News and commentary on statewide races and ballot questions.
The board voted unanimously to fund the three counties’ requests, totaling about $50,000, to operate in-person, satellite voting sites during the 2026 election cycle. The satellite locations are in addition to early voting and election-day polling places typically located in county courthouses.
Lyman County received $17,800 to hire poll workers, pay travel expenses and rent space for a temporary voting site. Oglala Lakota County was approved for $25,400 for similar expenses, and Todd County received $6,500.
Courts have repeatedly found that South Dakota and some counties have failed to provide equal access to polling locations, registration opportunities and early voting for Native Americans. In some of those lawsuits, judges have ruled that without such voting sites, those Native American voters faced barriers that violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
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