Secretary of State Request Voter Information Files

12-4-9. Master registration file--Contents--Public inspection--Limitations--Availability.

The county auditor shall maintain and safeguard a digital master registration file that contains:

1. The information from the voter registration card of each individual registered to vote in the county;
2. The date of the last election at which the individual has voted;
3. The date when the individual's voter information was last updated; and
4. Any application made by an individual to vote by absentee ballot, including:
   1. The mailing address listed on the absentee ballot application form;
   2. The absentee ballot requested on the application;
   3. The date the absentee ballot was requested;
   4. The date that the absentee ballot was returned; and
   5. The method of absentee voting employed by the individual.

The master registration file must be open to public inspection, free of charge. An individual's social security number, driver license number, South Dakota nondriver identification number, or month and day of birth is not open to public inspection.

The county auditor shall produce a record of all the information contained in the master registration file the day before any primary or general election scheduled within the county by 11:59 p.m. The county auditor shall maintain a rolling five-year archive of historical information from the master registration file.

The county auditor shall keep a voter registration form for a purged or unregistered voter twenty-two months. No purged or unregistered voter may be included in the master registration file.

Source: SL 1961, ch 92, § 5; SL 1974, ch 118, § 12; SL 1976, ch 105, § 6; SL 1994, ch 107, § 15; SL 2001, ch 66, § 6; SL 2008, ch 64, § 1; SL 2012, ch 81, § 2; SL 2017, ch 68, § 3; SL 2020, ch 50, § 1; SL 2025, ch 60, § 1.

12-4-41. Limited use of voter registration information--Exclusions--Penalty.

Any information obtained from the statewide voter registration file or any county voter registration file may not be sold, may not be used for any commercial purpose, and may not be placed for unrestricted access on the internet.

For the purposes of this section, "commercial purpose" does not include campaign or political polling activities.

For the purposes of this section, "sold" does not include any fee charged by the secretary of state for a paper copy of a list of registered voters, as provided in § 12-4-39.

Any violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor. In addition to any criminal sanctions, the court may impose a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand dollars for each violation. Any civil penalty collected pursuant to this section must be deposited in the general fund.

Source: SL 2001, ch 66, § 5; SL 2002, ch 72, § 3; SL 2017, ch 68, § 4; SL 2025, ch 60, § 5.