In the upcoming primary elections, voters in three rural counties in South Dakota will decide whether to revert to the practice of hand counting ballots, putting them at the forefront of a nationwide trend driven by unfounded conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 presidential election. The three counties, with populations of fewer than 6,000 residents each, could become among the first in the United States to require manual vote counts, despite the prevalence of ballot tabulators in most of the country.

While several states and local governments have considered banning machine counting, such efforts have often stalled due to concerns over cost, the time-consuming nature of hand counting, and the challenge of hiring additional staff. Experts argue that hand counting introduces more inaccuracies compared to the precision of machine tabulation.

Supporters of the initiative in South Dakota, led by citizen group SD Canvassing, believe that a decentralized approach to elections would enhance transparency and security, asserting that citizens should have oversight over the process. However, their motivations stem from baseless claims propagated by former President Donald Trump and his allies, who falsely alleged widespread voter fraud and manipulation of voting machines during the 2020 election. Despite the absence of evidence supporting these claims, they have gained traction in many pro-Trump communities.

The citizen initiatives seeking to prohibit ballot tabulators will appear on Tuesday's primary ballot in Gregory, Haakon, and Tripp counties. Similar efforts are underway in over 40 other conservative counties across the state. Notably, four other counties have already rejected attempts to mandate hand counting. For instance, Fall River County Commission decided in February to count ballots by hand for the June election, while Tripp County conducted a hand count during the 2022 general election.

If the measure passes, Gregory County Auditor Julie Bartling anticipates the need to increase the number of precincts to ease the burden of manual counting. Additionally, the county will have to invest in more assisted voting devices for disabled voters and face the challenge of hiring additional election workers. However, Bartling, who opposes the initiative, maintains her confidence in automated tabulators.

Tripp County Auditor Barb DeSersa, another opponent of the hand counting measure, echoed Bartling's concerns. DeSersa emphasized the exhaustion experienced by election workers during the 2022 hand count and predicted difficulties in finding volunteers if the process became routine. Analyzing the cost implications, DeSersa's office estimated that implementing hand counting in Tripp County would range from $17,000 to $25,000, compared to approximately $19,000 to $21,000 using tabulators. Haakon County Auditor Stacy Pinney suggested that determining the overall cost of hand counting remained challenging.

According to a state attorney's analysis for Haakon County, hand counting all the ballots would take two election workers using a tabulator three to four hours. Conversely, a manual count would require 15 to 20 election workers between five and 15 hours, depending on the number of contested races. The three counties collectively have 7,725 active registered voters.

Republican State Representative Rocky Blare, a resident of Tripp County, stated his opposition to the measure, finding no evidence to support claims of election issues in South Dakota. Secretary of State Monae Johnson, a Republican, expressed confidence in tabulating machines, citing their longstanding use and built-in safeguards. Under a new 2023 state law, the June election will include a post-election audit that involves hand counting votes in two races from 5% of precincts in each county to verify the accuracy of machine tabulation. Johnson's office reported no evidence of widespread problems in the 2020 or 2022 elections, apart from a case of one person voting twice, which was detected and addressed.

While a few counties have transitioned to hand counting since 2020, such instances are scarce. In California's Shasta County, officials initially abandoned ballot tabulators but later restricted hand counts to certain circumstances due to state legislation. In Arizona's Mohave County, officials rejected a proposal to hand count ballots in 2023 due to the high cost of approximately $1.1 million.

David Levine, a former local election official and senior fellow with the Alliance for Securing Democracy, emphasized that research indicates hand counting large numbers of ballots is more costly, less accurate, and time-consuming compared to machine tabulators. Levine criticized the notion that removing computers from the voting process would enhance election security, asserting that this belief ignores the reality that humans are less proficient at large-scale, monotonous tasks like ballot counting, whereas computers excel at them.

While hand counts are sometimes conducted as part of post-election tests to verify machine accuracy, election experts argue that manually counting all ballots and reporting results promptly, particularly in jurisdictions with a high number of voters and multiple races on the ballot, is unrealistic.

As the primary election approaches, the debate surrounding hand counting ballots in South Dakota continues, with proponents advocating for a return to manual tabulation while opponents emphasize the efficiencies and safeguards provided by ballot tabulators. The outcome of Tuesday's vote will serve as a significant indicator of the prevailing sentiment in these three rural counties and potentially influence future discussions on election procedures in South Dakota and beyond.