Workers count ballots using a tabulator during the Sioux Falls city and school board election on April 9, 2024. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

A majority of voters in three South Dakota counties showed their trust in the state’s current election system Tuesday as they rejected proposed bans on tabulator machines.

The votes – in Gregory, Haakon and Tripp counties – were forced by citizen-initiated petitions to ban tabulators and switch to hand counting ballots. The unofficial election results from the Secretary of State’s Office:

• Gregory County, 587 votes (54%) against the petition and 509 (46%) in favor.

• Haakon County, 276 (61%) against the petition and 177 (39%) in favor.

• Tripp County, 734 (57%) against the petition and 553 (43%) in favor.

Nearly 40% of registered voters turned out for the Gregory County primary election. Auditor Julie Bartling is confident the results reflect how all voters across the county would have voted.

“They listened to the pros and cons, and I believe this vote shows they still have confidence in the tabulators and the work we do here in the auditor’s office,” Bartling said Tuesday night. “We’re a small county and we know each other. You just want people to have a sense they can have trust and confidence in me not only as an elected official, but as a neighbor and friend.”

Bartling said she’ll continue to educate Gregory County residents about elections and answer their questions about the process. Tripp County Auditor Barb DeSersa said the result felt like a burden lifted from her shoulders knowing voters “got the facts,” but she doesn’t expect the issue of election security to die down.

“It’s just such a hassle,” DeSersa said. “I’m sure they’ll keep fighting. It’s so much work for my office and my girls, and the stress is just so much. It can be highly frustrating on our end.”

Tripp County had a 37% voter turnout while Haakon had a 34% voter turnout.

Lead petition circulators in the counties said the decisions on the ballot initiatives don’t change their distrust of machine tabulators. Steve McCance, one of the lead petition circulators for the Gregory County petition, said the fire won’t die with Tuesday’s vote.

“We’ve lost a battle,” McCance said, “but the war still goes on as far as the hand count goes.”

Fall River County officials voluntarily chose to hand count ballots, making it the only South Dakota county to do so in Tuesday’s primary. It results began flowing onto the Secretary of State’s website around 11 p.m. Mountain time.

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