South Dakota

SOUTH DAKOTA

3 Electoral Votes

Population
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, South Dakota Secretary of State)

Total Population, July 2004 est.	770,883
Registered Voters, Nov. 2004	502,261

Rep. 238,580 (47.50%) Dem. 191,523 (38.13%) Lib. 1,091 (0.22%) Ref. 101 (0.02%) Others 70,966 (14.13%)
South Dakota has: 66 counties.
Largest counties: Minnehaha, Pennington.
Largest cities: Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Aberdeen.

Government
Governor: Mike Rounds (R) elected in 2002.
State Legislature: South Dakota Legislature House: 70 seats Senate: 35 seats
Local: Cities NACO Counties
U.S. House: 1D - S.Herseth (D) .
U.S. Senate: Tim Johnson (D) re-elected in 2002, Tom Daschle (D) up for re-election in 2004.

In the closely contested U.S. Senate race former Rep. John Thune (R) defeated Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle by 197,813 votes to 193,279 votes (50.58% to 49.42%). Rep. Stephanie Herseth, first elected in a June 1, 2004 special election, defeated Larry Diedrich (R) and Terry Begay (L).

The Mount Rushmore State

State of South Dakota
Secretary of State

Natural Law Party of SD
Reform Party of SD
SD Democratic Party
SD Libertarian Party
SD Republican Party
Constitution Party

News and Media
Media (Newsp.)
Media (TV)

Politics1-SD

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Voter registration deadline for the general election is October 18, 2004. (SDCL 12-4-5)

Ralph Nader's Independent presidential campaign reported that it submitted more than 5,100 signatures on August 2, 2004. South Dakota requires 3,346 valid signatures signatures by August 3.

Official Results
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)	232,544	(59.91)
Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)	149,225	(38.44)
Nader (Ind.)	4,317	(1.11)
Peroutka (Const.)	1,106	(0.28)
Badnarik (Lib.)	964	()
Total........388,156

2004 Overview
President Bush won South Dakota with a plurality of 83,289 votes (21.47 percentage points)

Past Results

1996

Dole (Rep.)............150,543	(46.49)
Clinton (Dem.).......139,333	(43.03)
Perot (Ind.).............31,250	(9.65)
Others (3).................2,700	(0.83)
Total........323,826
Total Registration: 455,971
Turnout: 329,316
Turnout as % of Reg.: 71.6%

1992

Bush (Rep.)..........136,718
(40.66)

Clinton (Dem.).......124,888
(37.14)

Perot (Ind.)..............73,295
(21.80)

Others (3).................1,353
(0.40)

Total........336,254

Total Registration: 448,292

Turnout: 336,254

Turnout as % of Reg.: 75.0%

2000

+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)	190,700	(60.30)
Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)	3,322	(1.05)
Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)	118,804	(37.56)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)	1,662	(0.53)
Phillips/Frazier (Ind.)	1,781	(0.56)
Total........316,269

As a result of S.B. 34, passed and signed into law in 1999, South Dakota's petition filing deadline for independent candidates was moved up to June 20, 2000, third earliest in the nation (before Nader even accepted the Greens' nomination on June 25). Nader needed signatures of registered voters equal to at least one per cent of the total votes cast for Governor in the previous gubernatorial election (2,602 valid signatures) by June 20. The campaign took the matter to court but was unsuccessful.

2000 Overview
The presidential race had turned out fairly close in South Dakota in 1992 and 1996, but not this time around as Bush won with a plurality of 71,896 votes (22.74 percentage points). Bush carried 61 of 66 counties, including the two largest; Gore won five small counties scattered around the state.

2004 Primary Election -- Tuesday, June 1, 2004

Statutes governing the selection of national convention delegates are contained in South Dakota Codified Laws Title 12 - Elections (§12-2-1 sets the date of the primary election as the first Tuesday in June; §§12-5-2 to 12-5-3.15 detail placement on the ballot. The political party must certify delegate slates to the secretary of state by the first Tuesday in April preceding the primary by five p.m.).

Presidential Preference Results

Note: The election to fill the seat vacated by Bill Janklow (R) was held on June 1. Over 260,000 South Dakotans voted in that race as Stephanie Herseth (D) defeated Larry Diedrich (R) by a 51% to 49% margin.

results as of June 2, 2004 12:43:36 - 798 of 798 precincts reporting

	Votes	Percent
Howard Dean	4,837	6%
+John Kerry	69,454	82%
Dennis Kucinich	2,043	2%
Lyndon LaRouche	2,942	3%
Uncommitted Delegates	5,104	6%
Total

21 Delegates (14 Pledged, 7 Unpledged) and 4 Alternates

2000 page >>