South Dakota elections will continue to use tabulation machines despite an effort in a Senate committee.
The bill was brought by Piedmont Republican Sen. John Carley. He said nothing short of hand counting every ballot in South Dakota will definitively satisfy his election security concerns.
“I think that’s what we heard – nobody can prove they’re not connected," Carley said. "That would be great to actually have some proof there’s been some testing on that. Back to the question of there haven’t been any issues, we only do an audit on five percent of those. We don’t know that there’s been an issue because we audited five percent.”
This comes despite many county auditors lauding tabulation machines as safe, efficient and effective. Further, attempts to implement hand counting, even in lower population areas like Gregory County, have been met with steep challenges.
While Republican Majority Leader Sen. Jim Mehlhaff said security concerns are valid, he says full hand counts are impractical.
“There’s a lot of concern about it around the country, and I think as highlighted by McPherson County where they actually did audit all four precincts, they found it was the hand counting that was wrong and the tabulators were right," Mehlhaff said. "I’m not saying tabulators are perfect, but I think they’re pretty darn good. They’re a tool that’s needed by the auditors.”
The bill was killed on a 5-4 vote Wednesday.