Secretary of State Chris Nelson announced a new Internet service Monday that lets people check their voter registration information and view ballots they will be casting for South Dakota's June 3 primary election.

Absentee voting begins Tuesday at county auditors' offices, and Nelson said the new service will allow people to study the races ahead of time.

Republicans, Democrats and independents can view their respective sample ballots with candidate choices.

The primary ballot offers a Democrat or Republican presidential primary, a Republican U.S. Senate primary, as well as legislative and county primaries. In some places, municipal elections, school elections, and county ballot questions are also on the ballot.

The new service is called Voter Information Portal, or VIP for short.

Nelson said people can get the tailored information by merely typing in their names and birth dates.

"You will see your precinct and polling place name and address," he said. "If there is a problem finding a match or a voter is not registered, VIP will offer voter registration assistance and contact information for South Dakota's county auditors, who administer our elections."

Nelson said the new service has been his dream since before he was elected secretary of state.

"While other states and jurisdictions offer somewhat similar voter portals, I am not aware of any that offers so much specialized information for so little effort," he said. "Our state voter file, which my office administers in close cooperation with the state's county auditors, is really a powerful tool."

Once on www.sdsos.gov, go to Elections & Voter Registration and click on Voter Information Portal.