South Dakota Secretary of State Shantel Krebs says she wants to make her office more transparent for taxpayers.
She addressed the Black Hills Press Club and Forum to outline some of her goals. Krebs says she recognizes many people no longer trust their government.
“In my office I hear that every day because of what I walked into. I walked into a crisis situation where things were behind, we lacked the integrity in the office because things weren’t being done. We had a state flag, the original state flag that was stolen from my office under the previous administration, why would you not trust your government? That state flag was returned to my office in October of last year because you as citizens of South Dakota deserved…it had to go from clear to Washington D.C., our FBI, DCI, back to South Dakota,” says Krebs.
Krebs says the state flag now hangs in her office. She is also working to improve overall customer service during her tenure.
Krebs also addressed the upcoming election. South Dakotans can vote absentee before the primary election scheduled for June 7. Krebs says she’s working to ensure the public has equal access to absentee polling places.
State residents can vote absentee at their local court houses. Krebs says for that some, this can be a burden.
“In places such as your reservations an issue becomes transportation, so driving to that county auditor’s office. So encouraging our county auditors to establish satellite voting centers,” says Krebs.
Krebs says she’s making Help America Vote Act funds available to county auditors. She says HAVA funding pays for seven satellite voting centers, located in remote areas across the state.
To hear all of Krebs' address, visit the Facebook Page for the Black Hills Forum and Press Club.