Officials defend voter registration effort

By Heidi Bell Gease, Journal Staff Writer | Friday, October 18, 2002

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Despite recent allegations of voter registration fraud in South Dakota, political leaders say the goal remains getting eligible voters registered, and encouraging them to be heard in the Nov. 5 election.

"Nothing's 100 percent, and nothing's ever perfect," said Clarence Skye, executive director of the United Sioux Tribes, which has worked since September to register American Indian voters in the state through its Sioux Tribes Voter Registration & Education Project. "I'm sure that some people will find something wrong no matter what is done."

Last week, allegations of voter fraud arose when Dewey County Auditor Adele Enright noticed some inconsistencies on registration forms. The state Democratic Party subsequently fired a contract worker who had turned in the questionable forms.

Now Pennington County officials have acknowledged that they are investigating a similar situation, where one or two workers paid per registration are believed to have forged signatures on voter registration forms.

Skye acknowledged that one worker was hired to work for the Sioux Tribes Voter Registration & Education Project, previously identified as the Native American Voter Education & Registration Project.

"That individual was hired early on in the project and it's under investigation," Skye said. "It's the individual. We're not sanctioning anything that an individual decides to do himself ... If it's wrong, if we know about it, we fire them."

United Sioux Tribes initially worked to register voters in urban areas, especially Rapid City. New census figures show 15,000 Indian people living in Rapid City. United Sioux Tribes estimated that 40 percent of those were eligible to vote, and set a goal to register that many voters. So far, Skye said, they've registered more than 5,100 people, mostly through storefront booths and sidewalk registrations. They're also working on providing transportation to the polls for urban Indians.

Last week, United Sioux Tribes was asked to also conduct voter registration on the Pine Ridge, Rosebud and Cheyenne River Indian reservations.

Workers were hired to help with the process, trained, and supervised by Mary Janis, who has referred reporters to Skye. "Mary's done a good job," said Skye.

Pennington County Auditor Julie Pearson echoed that sentiment, saying, "We're very pleased with her work here."

Fall River Auditor Sherrill Dryden said that since June, her office has received more than 1,000 voter registrations for Shannon County, which includes the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Fall River handles general elections for both counties. Before the primary, Shannon County had about 5,700 registered voters.

Those numbers illustrate the focus on Indian voter registration. United Sioux Tribes isn't the only group working to get out the Indian vote this fall. A national group, Native Vote 2008, visited the state last summer to sign up voters on reservations.

And with several state races expected to be dead heats, both the Democratic and Republican parties have been working to register more eligible voters before the deadline at 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 21.

"Every election cycle we have different groups doing voter registration drives," Pearson said. "That's very normal, especially when you have such a hotly contested race."

Past drives have focused on young voters, women voters, or other groups. This year, it's the Indian vote.

Laura Schoen, executive director of the South Dakota Republican Party, said workers were hired this year to go door-to-door across the state, including on reservations. "We did have more resources available this year," because the races are close, she said. "So we were able to do more of this kind of outreach."

Judy Olson, chairwoman of the South Dakota Democratic Party, acknowledges the importance of every vote in a close race, but also said recent voter registration drives on Indian reservations are part of a state party commitment to do more to engage the state's Indian populations.

"I personally have felt we haven't been good listeners in the past," she said. "I personally have felt we haven't been as sensitive to the needs of that culture ... There's going to be a real effort to build a relationship. A lasting relationship, not a relationship that involves simply courting people for their vote."

Olson said, "We're going to be there after the election ... We're there for the long haul."

Questions or comments? Contact reporter Heidi Bell Gease at 394-8419, or heidi.bell@rapidcityjournal.com.