Protecting the Integrity of our Elections - Part 2

Earlier this year, I blogged about our very own State Senator, Red Dawn Foster, casting a vote against her constituents by voting “Nay” on Senate Bill 30, legislation aimed at protecting the integrity of South Dakota’s voter rolls.

In Part 2 of this series on election integrity, I want to discuss the implementation of Senate Bill 75, which was overwhelmingly passed by the 2025 Legislature and signed into law by Governor Larry Rhoden on March 25, 2025.

SB 75 was "An Act to require an indication of United States citizenship status on a motor vehicle operator's license or permit, and on a nondriver identification card." You can read the full text of the bill here: https://mylrc.sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/284179.pdf

With the SAVE Act currently stalled in Congress, South Dakota has taken the lead in strengthening election security by requiring voter identification and reinforcing that only United States citizens may vote in our federal, state, and local elections. Why do I bring this up? Because today I saw the law in action. I recently renewed my South Dakota driver’s license, and when I flipped the new card over, there it was: "U.S. Citizen: Y"

View of the Back Side of my New South Dakota Driver's License ID Identifying US Citizenship

And who opposed this legislation? Every Democrat in both the State House and Senate voted against the bill, except for District 27 State Representative Peri Pourier and District 26A State Representative Eric Emery. See below for the legislators who voted against this measure to strengthen election integrity.

District 27 State Representatives Peri Pourier (D) and Elizabeth May (R) voted "Yea" to protect the integrity of our elections, while the following House Democrats voted "Nay" (against protecting the integrity of our elections): Representatives Erin Healy (Minnehaha - District 10), Erik Muckey (Minnehaha - District 15), Nicole Uhre-Balk (Pennington - District 32), and Kadyn Wittman (Minnehaha - District 15). Note: Representative Pourier switched her Political Party Affiliation in 2026 from Democrat to Republican. (1)

District 27 State Senator Red Dawn Foster voted against protecting our elections, along with Senators Liz Larson (Minnehaha - District 10) and Jamie Smith (Minnehaha - District 15). (2)

It will take time before all South Dakota driver’s licenses and identification cards reflect this new citizenship designation, since licenses are renewed every five years. Because of that, I do not expect poll workers to immediately begin checking IDs for citizenship status. Nonetheless, this marks an important step toward strengthening confidence in our elections.

SB 75 is legislation that will have a lasting impact in South Dakota. If elected to the South Dakota State Senate, I will support legislation that upholds the integrity of our elections and oppose legislation that undermines it.

Sources:

(1) https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Vote/82212

(2) https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Vote/80682