prohibit the use of automatic tabulating equipment and electronic ballot marking systems.
SB 66 prohibits South Dakota election officials from using automatic tabulating equipment or electronic ballot marking systems for any election. The bill requires all ballots to be hand-counted manually in public view, replacing electronic processing with paper-based counting. It directly affects county auditors, precinct election boards, and all election administrators responsible for ballot handling and counting. The law mandates that ballots must be printed on paper (not processed electronically), with all vote counts performed manually after polls close, eliminating electronic tabulation entirely.
Bill status
passed
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Jan 2026
Senate Passage
Jan 2026
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 13, 2026
Last action Jan 26, 2026
Floor votes
How they voted
This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
4
Key actions
1
Committee
1
Jan 26, 2026
Upper · Passed
State Affairs Deferred to the 41st legislative day , Passed, YEAS 5, NAYS 3 S.J. 7
upper
Jan 26, 2026
Committee
State Affairs Do Pass , Passed, YEAS 3, NAYS 5 S.J. 7
upper
Jan 13, 2026
Introduced
First read in Senate and referred to Senate State Affairs S.J. 15
upper
8 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
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