SOUTH DAKOTA 3 Electoral Votes
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, South Dakota Secretary of State)
Total Population, July 2006 est. 781,919
Registered Voters, Oct. 21, 2006 503,086 (active)
Rep. 238,727 (47.45%)    Dem. 189,804 (37.73%)    Indep. 69,951 (13.90%)   Lib. 1,157  Const. 339    Other 3,108 
South Dakota has: 66 counties.
Largest counties: Minnehaha, Pennington. >
Largest cities: Sioux Falls, Rapid City. >

Government
Governor: Mike Rounds (R) elected in 2002, re-elected in 2006.
State Legislature: South Dakota Legislature  House: 70 seats  Senate: 35 seats
Local: Cities, Counties, TribesNACO Counties
U.S. House: 1D - S.Herseth Sandlin (D).
U.S. Senate: Tim Johnson (D) up for re-election in 2008, John Thune (R) re-elected in 2004.

The Mount Rushmore State
 

 State of South Dakota
Secretary of State

SD Democratic Party
SD Libertarian Party
SD Republican Party
Constitution Party of SD
Green contact

Argus Leader
Newspapers
TV, Radio
More TV

Politics1-SD
 

Primary Election -- Tuesday, June 3, 2008
South Dakota Codified Laws §12-5-3.14. "Any candidate, committee, or group supporting a candidate in any presidential primary, shall, by the last Tuesday in March prior to the presidential primary election, notify the secretary of state of an intention to have the name of the candidate placed on the presidential primary election ballot or submit a slate of candidates or both."
 
Democrats
23 Delegates (15 Pledged and 8 Unpledged) and 4 Alternates.
0.57% of the 4,047 Delegate Votes.

Clinton  |  Obama
former: Edwards

Republicans
27 Delegates: 3 RNC, 21 at-large, 3 CD (3 x 1 CD).
1.13% of the 2,380 Delegates.

McCain
former: Huckabee
 

Setting the Primary Date
Statutes governing the selection of national convention delegates are contained in South Dakota Codified Laws Title 12 - Elections (§12-2-1 sets the date of the primary election as the first Tuesday in June).
 
General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Voter registration deadline for the general election is October 18, 2004. (SDCL 12-4-5)
Ralph Nader's Independent presidential campaign reported that it submitted more than 5,100 signatures on August 2, 2004. South Dakota requires 3,346 valid signatures signatures by August 3.
Official Results
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
232,544
(59.91)
Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)
149,225
(38.44)
Nader (Ind.)
4,317
(1.11)
Peroutka (Const.)
1,106
(0.28)
Badnarik (Lib.) 964 ()
Total........388,156
 
2004 Overview
President Bush won South Dakota with a plurality of 83,289 votes (21.47 percentage points)
Past Results
1996
Dole (Rep.)............150,543
(46.49)
Clinton (Dem.).......139,333
(43.03)
Perot (Ind.).............31,250
(9.65)
Others (3).................2,700
(0.83)
Total........323,826
Total Registration:  455,971
Turnout:  329,316
Turnout as % of Reg.:  71.6%

1992
Bush (Rep.)..........136,718
(40.66)
Clinton (Dem.).......124,888
(37.14)
Perot (Ind.)..............73,295
(21.80)
Others (3).................1,353
(0.40)
Total........336,254
Total Registration:  448,292
Turnout:  336,254
Turnout as % of Reg.:  75.0%

2000
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
190,700
(60.30)
Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)
3,322
(1.05)
Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
118,804
(37.56)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
1,662
(0.53)
Phillips/Frazier (Ind.)
1,781
(0.56)
Total........316,269

As a result of S.B. 34, passed and signed into law in 1999, South Dakota's petition filing deadline for independent candidates was moved up to June 20, 2000, third earliest in the nation (before Nader even accepted the Greens' nomination on June 25).  Nader needed signatures of registered voters equal to at least one per cent of the total votes cast for Governor in the previous gubernatorial election (2,602 valid signatures) by June 20.  The campaign took the matter to court but was unsuccessful.

2000 Overview
The presidential race had turned out fairly close in South Dakota in 1992 and 1996, but not this time around as Bush won with a plurality of 71,896 votes (22.74 percentage points).  Bush carried 61 of 66 counties, including the two largest; Gore won five small counties scattered around the state. 


2004 Primary Election -- Tuesday, June 1, 2004
Statutes governing the selection of national convention delegates are contained in South Dakota Codified Laws Title 12 - Elections (§12-2-1 sets the date of the primary election as the first Tuesday in June; §§12-5-2 to 12-5-3.15 detail placement on the ballot.  The political party must certify delegate slates to the secretary of state by the first Tuesday in April preceding the primary by five p.m.).
Presidential Preference Results

Note: The election to fill the seat vacated by Bill Janklow (R) was held on June 1.  Over 260,000 South Dakotans voted in that race as Stephanie Herseth (D) defeated Larry Diedrich (R) by a 51% to 49% margin.
results as of June 2, 2004 12:43:36  -  798 of 798 precincts reporting
Votes
Percent
Howard Dean
 4,837
6%
+John Kerry
 69,454
82%
Dennis Kucinich
 2,043
2%
Lyndon LaRouche
2,942
3%
Uncommitted Delegates
 5,104
6%
Total  
21 Delegates (14 Pledged, 7 Unpledged) and 4 Alternates

2004 page >
2000 page >

Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.