© 2024 SDPB Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Ballot counting in Minnehaha County delayed over ballot sealing issue

Tabulator machines at Minnehaha County Administration
Evan Walton
/
SDPB
Tabulator machines at Minnehaha County Administration

Final results for the South Dakota election were delayed deep into Tuesday after an issue involving a sealed ballot box in the state's most populous county.

The final precincts in Minnehaha County did not report until Wednesday afternoon.

According to a report from The Dakota Scout, a box of ballots was prematurely sealed at the auditor’s office overnight during vote counting.

It’s against the law to reopen a sealed ballot box, so the auditor’s office needed to get permission from a circuit court judge to open the box.

That request was granted late Wednesday morning.

Minnehaha County Auditor Leah Anderson
Evan Walton
/
SDPB
Minnehaha County Auditor Leah Anderson

Evan Walton is an SDPB reporter based in Sioux Falls. Evan holds a Master’s in English Literature from Southern New Hampshire University and was honorably discharged from the United States Army in 2015, where he served for five years as an infantryman.