SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO-AM) The flood of early voting in South Dakota has renewed calls for a change in state law to allow earlier counting of those early votes.
Secretary of State Shantel Krebs says since near historic levels of absentee ballots will have to be counted on Tuesday along with all the votes cast that day, election results may be delayed, especially in the most populated counties.
Minnehaha County Auditor Bob Litz wishes he could start counting absentee ballots a day early:
"The Monday before, to allow us to start processing them and holding the results until the next day," Litz tells KELO Radio News. He says state law needs to be changed because early voting has expanded to levels not anticipated when it was decided to wait until election day to count those ballots. The envelopes have to be opened and each ballot unfolded.
Both on Friday and Monday, the last day of early voting, the line stretched outside the Minnehaha County Administration Building in downtown Sioux Falls. Litz says early voting in the county is near record levels.