South Dakota voters will have to prove they’re U.S. citizens when they register to vote under a bill in Pierre that becomes law.
The South Dakota Senate passed Senate Bill 175 today (Thursday) — 28-to-6.
The bill requires anyone registering to vote to show documentation proving they are a United States citizen.
Acceptable documents include a South Dakota driver’s license issued after July 1st of last year, a tribal I-D, or photocopies of a birth certificate or passport.
Bill sponsor, Republican Sen. John Carley of Piedmont, says the measure simply locks into law what should already be the standard.
Not everyone in the Senate agreed.
Republican Sen. Randy Deibert of Spearfish voted against the bill.
He said a provision affecting voters who use commercial mailboxes instead of a physical home address could strip some long-time South Dakotans of their ability to vote in local elections.
He used his brother and sister-in-law as an example of South Dakotans who now travel the country in an RV.
If passed by the House and signed by the governor, it would apply in the June primary election.
