With voter registration now closed, 12,685 Davison County residents will have a chance to cast a ballot until Nov. 8.
According to Davison County Auditor Susan Kiepke, 5,860 Republicans and 4,049 Democrats are registered vote in the county of approximately 19,500 people. The county also serves as home to 2,258 independent voters, 20 Libertarians, three constitutionalists, 24 voters listed as "other" and 471 with no party affiliation.
Voter registrations closed at 5 p.m. Monday, but those who registered can vote early at the Davison County Courthouse until 5 p.m. Nov. 7. Voters can also acquire an absentee ballot to take home, which must be requested by 5 p.m. Nov. 7 and returned by 7 p.m. Nov. 8.
With no restrictions on reasons needed to vote early in the state, Kiepke said voters are taking advantage of the opportunity to hit the polls early.
"It's quite a few," Kiepke said about approximately 1,400 absentee voters who have requested ballots. "I would expect to double that in the last two weeks before the election. Since they took away having to have a reason to absentee vote, it's been much higher than it used to be."
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Several polling stations are currently set up at the courthouse, and registered voters can cast ballots or request a take-home ballot from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the courthouse until the day before the election.
If Davison County residents choose not to vote early, they will need to vote at one of five assigned polling places: the Corn Palace, Mitchell Career & Technical Education Academy, the Mount Vernon Senior Center, the Davison County Fairgrounds and Ethan Town Hall. But, Kiepke said, many are deciding to acquire a take-home ballot.
"What I have seen, there are more people taking their ballots home with them, which is an option," Kiepke said. "It's more paperwork, but the people are able to do that, and I've seen more people taking their ballots home rather than voting here at the courthouse."
And whether they're taking a ballot home, voting at the courthouse or waiting until Election Day, Davison County voters will come face-to-face with a jam-packed ballot. Along with 10 ballot questions, Davison County voters will get the chance to cast their ballot for U.S. president, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, South Dakota Public Utilities Commissioner, District 20 state senator and District 20 representatives.
According to The Daily Republic's archive, 65.27 percent of all registered voters in the county - including inactive voters - turned out for the most recent presidential election in 2012. In 2012, 4,757 Davison County voters supported Republican Mitt Romney and 3,042 backed President Barack Obama.
Turnout in the Davison County primaries in June hit 18.36 percent.
