South Dakota Mail-In Voters Hope to Preserve the Option of Voting by Mail
On October 25, a South Dakota Public Broadcasting program focused on the voices of the state's mail-in voters: with the November 3 general election approaching, about 10,000 South Dakota voters have applied for absentee ballots by mail, roughly 22 percent of all early-voting ballots requested so far. The program was reported on the ground by a South Dakota Searchlight journalist and was based on voting data released by the Secretary of State's office.
One of the voters interviewed was Greg Adams of Sioux Falls, an 80-year-old unaffiliated registered voter and a Vietnam veteran. He said that because a physical disability limits his mobility, mail-in voting is very important to him; he voted by absentee ballot throughout his military service and has voted in every election since he turned 21, never missing one. He said that if he lost the mail-in option, he would have to find someone to take him to a polling place, but that he would never give up voting itself.
In recent years there have been growing calls at the federal level to restrict mail-in voting, and the related disputes have entered the federal court system. The reporter noted in the program that many voters like Adams choose mail-in voting not for convenience, but out of physical circumstances and real need. Early voting is currently under way in South Dakota, and voters can cast ballots by mail or in person in advance, with Election Day on November 3.
Source: GSM·USA
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 南达科他州苏福尔斯市主大街街景（资料图）。图片来源：w_lemay / Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 2.0。Main Avenue in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (file photo). Photo: w_lemay / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
