Follow-Up: South Dakota Secretary of State's Office Reports on October 27 That the Justice Department Will Send Federal Election Monitors to Minnehaha County for the November 3 Election
Pierre, Hughes County, South Dakota — The South Dakota Secretary of State's Office reported on October 27 that it has received notice from the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division that the department will send federal election monitors to Minnehaha County for the November 3 general election. The Justice Department says the monitoring aims to observe election procedures and assess compliance with federal voting rights laws, including the Voting Rights Act, the Help America Vote Act and other federal laws protecting voting rights and accessible voting. The monitors will observe and take notes without interfering in the voting process; they will identify themselves to election officials, follow state and local laws, not speak to voters inside polling places and not carry firearms, and will report concerns through designated Justice Department leadership channels. The Secretary of State's Office notes that under South Dakota codified law, members of the public may observe voting and counting without interfering with election operations, and federal monitors have the same rights and are subject to the same restrictions as other poll observers. The office says the presence of federal monitors does not change local election officials' responsibilities or the procedures set by South Dakota law, and that the state's election will continue to be conducted in a fair, secure, transparent and orderly manner.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：南达科他州苏瀑市瀑布公园的大苏河瀑布（资料图）。Carol M. Highsmith 摄，公共领域，来源：Wikimedia Commons / Photo: The falls of the Big Sioux River at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (file photo). By Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-06DOJ Plans Record 1,000+ Election Monitors for November Midterms
- 2026-10-21Follow-Up: States Prepare for Surge of DOJ Election Watchers as NAACP Sues to Bar Prosecutors as Monitors
- 2026-10-21Justice Department Plans About 1,000 Election Monitors Nationwide: Minnesota Prepares State Employees to Shadow Federal Attorneys
- 2026-10-21Justice Department Begins Notifying Counties It Wants to Monitor on Election Day, Colorado Counties on the List
- 2026-10-22Justice Department to Send Federal Election Monitors to Utah
- 2026-10-22Follow-Up: Justice Department to Send Election Monitors to Polling Places in Seven Michigan Cities, Including Detroit
- 2026-10-27Follow-Up: South Dakota Secretary of State's Office Reports on October 27 That the Justice Department Will Send Federal Election Monitors to Minnehaha County for the November 3 ElectionThis story
- 2026-10-29Follow-Up: DOJ Filing Says FBI and ICE Personnel Will Not Serve as Midterm Poll Monitors; Monitors Unarmed and Observe Only
