Voter hearings sought

By Denise Ross, Journal Staff Writer

South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson should hold public hearings on the reported voting problems that occurred during the June 1 special and primary elections, Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said

Daschle sent a letter to Nelson Monday asking for hearings to be held on Indian reservations, from where the bulk of complaints have come. Most complaints have stemmed from voters who lacked a photo ID being turned away rather than being offered the opportunity to sign an affidavit and vote, as required by state law.

Although Nelson, a Republican, did not reject Daschle's call for hearings outright, he did give it a chilly reception.

"We will certainly consider everything he has suggested. Whether or not we do it, I've got to look at the specifics and see what's the best course," Nelson said. "Whether or not we do something, I would determine what will be of value in solving what the problems might have been."

Daschle, who is seeking re-election in the Nov. 2 general election, asked for three specific courses of action:

n "Conduct a full investigation into why some voters were incorrectly denied the right to vote and why some election workers were provided incorrect information. Investigating and punishing those who violate the law as they seek to exclude legal voters from the voting booth is essential to ending voter intimidation in South Dakota, he said.

**"Hold public hearings, preferably in Indian Country and ask for people to testify about their voting experiences during the June 1 elections.

**"Have each county auditor produce a public report on how he or she plans to train election workers in the new laws to ensure that everyone knows exactly what the new laws are and how they are to be applied.

Getting to the bottom of any voting problems should not be tainted by partisan politics, Daschle wrote.

"This is not a partisan or political issue. In many cases the problems that we are hearing about may not have been a product of malicious intent, but instead of confusion coming from the new laws," Daschle wrote. "I believe Republicans and Democrats can agree that we need to increase voter participation, not find ways to make it more difficult. We have the opportunity to correct this before Nov. 2."

Daschle's Republican challenger John Thune will go along with however Nelson decides to handle the continuing complaints, said Thune campaign manager Dick Wadhams.

"Obviously, everyone's objective is to have free, fair, open elections across the state. We have a lot of confidence in the South Dakota secretary of state to make sure that happens," Wadhams said.

Reports of problems at the polling places have been coming to Nelson's office, to reporters, to Daschle's campaign staff and to other voting rights groups since the polls opened at 7 a.m. two weeks ago today.

Reported problems range from election workers not offering affidavits to problem poll watcher behavior to one county auditor sending erroneous written instructions that photo ID is required to vote.

Despite almost daily reports of new incidents, it has been difficult to quantify the problems or gather a comprehensive list, and Nelson said he's not trying to do that.

"I'm not tracking incident by incident, allegation by allegation. I haven't kept a detailed list," Nelson said. "I'm looking ahead. Apparently, there are some folks who want to look back and dissect and analyze what happened. My concern is to be sure November will be done perfectly."

Nelson said he and his staff jumped on the affidavit complaints on Election Day, and as far as he knows, that problem was solved early. He said he continues to follow up on each new report, but said his sole intent is to look for ways to bolster the training he gives to county auditors and the training those auditors give to their election workers.

"I'm finding things I need to reinforce in our training," Nelson said. "There are things I can learn from that, things I need to re-enforce in the training."

In addition, Nelson said he has reached out to the American Indian communities and will continue to do so. He made offers in March to each tribal president and each tribal college to come and give presentations about voting procedure and laws, he said. He went to the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation before the June 1 election and plans to visit Sisseton Wahpeton College in Sisseton this fall. He will visit any other reservation when invited, he said.

"That, really, is what I'm going to be working on — going out and holding meetings in Indian Country," Nelson said.

Regardless of whether Nelson calls hearings, any voting problems that occurred on June 1 will continue to be discussed. The Four Directions nonprofit organization is planning to file lawsuits in federal court in Rapid City, Pierre and Sioux Falls in the coming weeks.

Nelson said he will spend the time between now and the election improving the training process.

"I am going to make sure everybody in that whole chain understands what the law is and how to apply it," Nelson said.

Contact Denise Ross at 394-8438 or denise.ross@rapidcityjournal.com