//Run for office · South Dakota

How to run for local office in South Dakota

South Dakota sells its statewide voter file for $225, and since 2026 every city and school board election falls on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June or November.

Facts checked against official sources · September 9, 2026

South Dakota's Secretary of State runs a cheap, clean data operation: a statewide electronic voter registration file for $225, county files for $10 to $40, and county or statewide absentee files that show who has requested and returned a ballot. Registration is county-based, so county auditors also hand out lists, and the master registration file is open to public inspection for free.

Local filing is local. City candidates petition the municipal finance officer, school board candidates petition the school business manager, and county candidates petition the county auditor. A 2025 law effective January 1, 2026 moved every municipal and school election onto the state's two dates (June or November), and a 2026 amendment set the petition deadline at 5 p.m. on the third Tuesday of March or August. Campaign finance reporting reaches county races only in counties over 10,000 people, school boards only in districts over 2,000 students, and city offices not at all unless the city opts in.

Election authority: South Dakota Secretary of State, Division of Elections
Voter file: Public record — anyone can obtain it · Statewide file $225 electronic or $1,000 paper; updated statewide file $50 electronic or $100 paper; legislative district $25 electronic or $100 paper; county or other district $10, $20, or $40 electronic by size (up to 1,000 names; 1,001 to 10,000; 10,001 to 25,000). SOS filing fees page, checked 2026-09-09. The SOS held a rules hearing on August 12, 2025 on voter file pricing, so confirm the figure before paying.
Campaign finance: SDCFR (South Dakota Campaign Finance Reporting) for statewide and legislative filers (South Dakota Secretary of State, Division of Elections (state filers); county auditor, municipal finance officer, or school business manager (local filers))
How voters vote: In person, with no-excuse mail voting
Registration deadline: A registration form with an original signature must reach the county auditor by 5 p.m. 15 days before the election (SDCL 12-4-5). Forms cannot be faxed or emailed. There is no same-day registration.
Local offices: City and school board offices are nonpartisan. County offices (commissioner, auditor, treasurer, sheriff, state's attorney, register of deeds) are partisan and are nominated in the June primary in even years.

Who runs elections in South Dakota

South Dakota Secretary of State, Division of Elections The Division of Elections sells voter registration and absentee files, publishes the city and school election calendars and petition guides, runs the campaign finance reporting system for statewide and legislative filers, and takes petitions for legislative, judicial, and multi-county offices. For a city, school, or county race your filing officer is local; the SOS is where you buy data, download the petition form, and read the calendar.

South Dakota's 66 county auditors register voters, keep the digital master registration file (SDCL 12-4-9), run absentee voting from their offices starting 46 days out, staff the polls, and accept petitions for county offices. Municipal finance officers run city elections and school district business managers run school elections, often under an agreement that lets the county auditor administer a combined ballot. The SOS keeps a directory of all 66 county auditors.

Getting the South Dakota voter file

The voter file is the list of every registered voter, with the fields a campaign needs to target: address, party where the state records it, and vote history. In South Dakota it comes from South Dakota Secretary of State (statewide and district files); county auditors (county master registration file).

Access: Public record — anyone can obtain it
Cost: Statewide file $225 electronic or $1,000 paper; updated statewide file $50 electronic or $100 paper; legislative district $25 electronic or $100 paper; county or other district $10, $20, or $40 electronic by size (up to 1,000 names; 1,001 to 10,000; 10,001 to 25,000). SOS filing fees page, checked 2026-09-09. The SOS held a rules hearing on August 12, 2025 on voter file pricing, so confirm the figure before paying.
Format: Electronic data file (or paper list); the request form does not publish the column layout
Vote history: Not confirmed
Phone numbers: Not confirmed
Updated: The county master file is live; auditors must snapshot it at 11:59 p.m. the day before every primary or general election and keep a rolling five-year archive (SDCL 12-4-9). The SOS sells an 'updated' statewide file at a discount for refreshes.

Who can get it: Anyone. The SOS online request form asks only for your name, address, phone, email, and whether you are requesting as a business, an organization, or yourself; the county master registration file is open to public inspection free of charge (SDCL 12-4-9).

Permitted use: May not be sold or used for any commercial purpose, but 'commercial purpose' expressly excludes campaign and political polling activities; may not be posted for unrestricted access on the internet. Violations are a Class 1 misdemeanor with a civil penalty of up to $2,000 per violation (SDCL 12-4-41).

County option: Yes, and it is the cheap path: a county or other district file is $10 to $40 electronically from the SOS, and the county auditor's master registration file is open to inspection free of charge (SDCL 12-4-9). For a city or school race ask for the precincts inside your boundary.

The master registration file holds each voter's registration card information, the date of the last election voted, the date the record was last updated, and every absentee application (mailing address, ballot requested, date requested, date returned, method) (SDCL 12-4-9).
Social Security numbers, driver license and non-driver ID numbers, and month and day of birth are never released (SDCL 12-4-9).
The SOS publishes voter registration totals by county and party for free; use them to size a race before buying the file.
Whether the electronic file carries several elections of vote history or only the last-voted date is not stated on the SOS pages; ask the Division of Elections for the current layout before you buy.

Whatever file you get, Culper imports it as a CSV and maps the columns for you. See how to read a voter file for what the fields mean.

Filing to run for local office in South Dakota

Every local office in South Dakota is reached by nominating petition, with no filing fee. City candidates file with the municipal finance officer (SDCL 9-13-7), school board candidates with the school district business manager (SDCL 13-7-6), and county candidates with the county auditor (SDCL 12-6-4). Once the officer verifies the signatures and your registration, the filing itself is the nomination and you are on the ballot; if only one person files for a seat, the city or district need not hold the election.

File with: Municipal finance officer (city offices); school district business manager (school board); county auditor (county offices)
Filing fee: None for municipal, school, or county offices
Petition: City, first- or second-class municipality: 5 percent of the registered voters of the city (or ward), counted on the second Tuesday of the month five months before the election, or 50 voters, whichever is less; third-class municipality: 3 registered voters (SDCL 9-13-9). School board: at least 20 voters of the district or representation area (SDCL 13-7-6). County: the signature count set in SDCL chapter 12-6 for partisan primaries; ask the county auditor. Petitions must be on the State Board of Elections form, self-contained on each sheet, and verified by the circulator under oath.
Partisan?: City and school board offices are nonpartisan. County offices (commissioner, auditor, treasurer, sheriff, state's attorney, register of deeds) are partisan and are nominated in the June primary in even years.

Filing window: For an election on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June, petitions are due by 5 p.m. local time on the third Tuesday of March; for the November date, by 5 p.m. on the third Tuesday of August (SDCL 9-13-7 and 13-7-6, as amended in 2026). City petitions may not circulate more than four months before the election (SDCL 9-13-9); school petitions not before January 1 (June election) or June 1 (November election). County candidates file with the auditor after December 31 and before 5 p.m. on the third Tuesday of March in the even year (SDCL 12-6-4). Registered mail postmarked by the deadline counts.

Key South Dakota dates
What	When	Note
Year-end campaign finance report (covered filers)	January 29, 2027	Last Friday in January (SOS important dates page); local filers file with their local officer
City and school petition deadline, June 2027 election	March 16, 2027	5 p.m. local time, third Tuesday of March (SDCL 9-13-7, 13-7-6). The SOS 2026 calendar used March 24 under the earlier wording; confirm with your finance officer or business manager.
Absentee voting begins, June 2027 election	April 23, 2027	46 days before the election (SDCL 12-19-1.2)
Voter registration deadline, June 2027 election	May 24, 2027	5 p.m., 15 days before the election (SDCL 12-4-5)
June municipal and school election	June 8, 2027	First Tuesday after the first Monday in June (SDCL 9-13-1, 13-7-10); polls open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
City and school petition deadline, November 2027 election	August 17, 2027	5 p.m., third Tuesday of August (SDCL 9-13-7, 13-7-6); school petitions may circulate from June 1
Absentee voting begins, November 2027 election	September 17, 2027	46 days before the election (SDCL 12-19-1.2)
Voter registration deadline, November 2027 election	October 18, 2027	5 p.m., 15 days before the election (SDCL 12-4-5)
November municipal and school election	November 2, 2027	First Tuesday after the first Monday in November (SDCL 9-13-1, 13-7-10)
County office petition deadline, 2028 primary	March 21, 2028	5 p.m., third Tuesday of March before the June 6, 2028 primary, filed with the county auditor (SDCL 12-6-4)

A city may by ordinance hold its regular election only in even-numbered years (SDCL 9-13-1.3, added in 2026), so check whether your city still votes in 2027.
Cities must set their election date by January 14 and school boards at their first regular meeting after January 1 (SDCL 9-13-1, 13-7-10); ask the finance officer or business manager which date was chosen.

Campaign finance rules in South Dakota

State-level campaign finance in South Dakota is overseen by South Dakota Secretary of State, Division of Elections (state filers); county auditor, municipal finance officer, or school business manager (local filers) through SDCFR (South Dakota Campaign Finance Reporting) for statewide and legislative filers.

Where local candidates file: Covered county, municipal, and school candidates file 'in the office where the nominating petition was filed': the county auditor, the municipal finance officer, or the school business manager, on the state Campaign Finance Disclosure Statement form (SOS FAQ; SDCL 12-27). Coverage is narrow (SDCL 12-27-39): county offices in counties with more than 10,000 people; school district offices in districts with more than 2,000 average daily membership; ballot questions in first-class municipalities. Municipal offices are not covered unless the city adopts an ordinance applying the chapter. Separately, candidates in first-class municipalities and in school districts over 2,000 students must file a Candidate Financial Interest Statement within 15 days of filing their petition (SDCL 12-25-30).

Contribution limits: A legislative or county candidate may accept, per calendar year, up to $1,000 from a person, $1,000 from an entity, and unlimited amounts from PACs, political parties, and other candidate committees; the candidate and immediate family are unlimited and ballot question committees may not give (SDCL 12-27-8). Covered municipal and school district races use the same legislative limits (SDCL 12-27-39). City races that are not covered have no state limit.

Reporting: Pre-primary report 15 days before the primary (May 18, 2026), pre-general report 15 days before the general (October 19, 2026), year-end report on the last Friday in January (January 29, 2027); a 48-hour supplemental report for any contribution of $500 or more in the 20 days before an election (SDCL 12-27-28; SOS important dates page). County filers use the same schedule with the county auditor.

A person becomes a 'candidate' for reporting purposes once they raise or spend more than $500, authorize solicitations, or create a committee (SDCL 12-27-1).
A city, school district, or township not covered by SDCL 12-27 may adopt the chapter by ordinance or resolution (SDCL 12-27-39); ask your finance officer whether yours has.

Limits and thresholds change. Treat the figures here as a starting point and confirm the current schedule with South Dakota Secretary of State, Division of Elections (state filers); county auditor, municipal finance officer, or school business manager (local filers) before you accept a check. Our campaign finance basics guide covers the bookkeeping every local candidate needs on day one.

How voting works in South Dakota

In person, with no-excuse mail voting. South Dakota votes at the polls on election day with no-excuse absentee voting by mail or in person at the county auditor's office; the same rules apply to city and school elections because they run under Title 12 (SDCL 13-7-10). Photo ID is required to vote absentee in person at the auditor's office.

Early voting: There is no separate early-voting period. In-person absentee voting at the county auditor's office begins 46 days before the election and runs until 5 p.m. (or the end of office hours, whichever is later) the day before.
Mail ballots: Apply to the county auditor by mail or in person any time before the election; ballots are issued from the 46th day before (SDCL 12-19-1.2). Nobody is mailed a ballot automatically.
Registration deadline: A registration form with an original signature must reach the county auditor by 5 p.m. 15 days before the election (SDCL 12-4-5). Forms cannot be faxed or emailed. There is no same-day registration.
Same-day registration: No

Knowing who has already voted: Buy the absentee voter file. The SOS sells county absentee files for $10 to $75 by size, a legislative district absentee file for $50, and a statewide absentee file for $225 (SOS filing fees page). It comes from the master registration file, which records for every voter the absentee ballot requested, the date requested, the date returned, and the method (SDCL 12-4-9), so re-pulling it during the 46-day window tells you who has voted. County auditors can produce the same list locally. The SOS also posts statewide absentee totals by party each Friday during an election; those are counts only.

Local government in South Dakota: what you can run for

66 counties, each with an elected auditor who is the election official. Municipalities are classed by population, which drives petition and reporting rules: first-class municipalities have 5,000 or more people (the SOS petition guide lists 18, from Sioux Falls to Belle Fourche), and second- and third-class municipalities are under 5,000. School districts elect boards; organized townships and special districts (water, sanitary, road) elect boards under their own chapters.

City council member or city commissioner
Mayor
County commissioner
County auditor, treasurer, register of deeds, sheriff, state's attorney
School board member
Township supervisor or clerk
Special district director (water, sanitary, road)
State representative and senator

When local elections happen: Since January 1, 2026 every municipality and school district holds its regular election on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June or November, chosen by the governing body each year (SDCL 9-13-1, 13-7-10), which lets a city or school combine with the state primary or general in even years; a city may also opt into even-year-only elections (SDCL 9-13-1.3). County offices are elected in even years with the June primary and November general.

Running your South Dakota campaign on Culper

Culper does not license voter data in South Dakota today. You upload the South Dakota voter file described above as a CSV, and every feature runs on it: search and lists, plain-English queries, texting and email, block walking, and volunteer coordination. Online donation processing is in development; ask about timing on the onboarding call. Your file stays in your campaign's workspace and is never shared with another campaign.

Set up your South Dakota campaign in an afternoon

Upload the voter file, ask for your first list in plain English, and hand your volunteers the walking app. Signup is open to candidates in every state. Pricing is set after a short call so it matches the size of the race.

Get started Book a demo

South Dakota questions we get asked

How much does the South Dakota voter file cost?

$225 for the statewide electronic file, $25 for a legislative district, and $10 to $40 for a county or other district depending on how many names it has; an updated statewide file is $50 (SOS filing fees page, checked September 2026). Anyone may buy it through the SOS online request form, and the county auditor's master registration file is open to inspection for free (SDCL 12-4-9). You may use it for campaigns and political polling but not sell it or put it online (SDCL 12-4-41). The SOS reviewed voter file pricing at an August 2025 rules hearing, so confirm the figure when you order.

When is the deadline to file for city council or school board in South Dakota?

5 p.m. on the third Tuesday of March for a June election, or 5 p.m. on the third Tuesday of August for a November election (SDCL 9-13-7 for cities, 13-7-6 for schools, both amended in 2026). For 2027 that is March 16 or August 17, 2027. City petitions go to the municipal finance officer, school petitions to the school business manager, and registered mail postmarked by the deadline counts. Your South Dakota city or school district picks June or November each year, so ask which date was chosen before you circulate.

Do South Dakota city council candidates have to file campaign finance reports?

Usually not. SDCL 12-27-39 applies the campaign finance chapter to county offices in counties over 10,000 people and school board offices in districts over 2,000 students, but to municipal offices only if the city adopts an ordinance applying it. A South Dakota school board candidate in a large district files with the school business manager on the state disclosure form; a county candidate in a large county files with the county auditor. Candidates in first-class municipalities and large school districts must still file a Candidate Financial Interest Statement within 15 days of filing a petition (SDCL 12-25-30).

What are the contribution limits for a county commission or school board race in South Dakota?

$1,000 per calendar year from a person and $1,000 from an entity, with no limit from PACs, political parties, other candidate committees, or the candidate and immediate family (SDCL 12-27-8). Those legislative limits also govern covered municipal and school district races in South Dakota (SDCL 12-27-39). Ballot question committees may not contribute to candidates. Contributions of $500 or more in the last 20 days before an election require a 48-hour report (SDCL 12-27-28).

How does a South Dakota campaign find out who has voted absentee?

Buy the absentee voter file from the Secretary of State: $10 to $75 for a county depending on size, $50 for a legislative district, $225 statewide. South Dakota's master registration file records each voter's absentee application with the date requested, the date returned, and the method (SDCL 12-4-9), so pulling the file weekly during the 46-day absentee window gives you a returned-ballot list. The county auditor can generate the same list. The SOS's weekly statewide absentee page shows totals by party but no names.

When are city and school elections in South Dakota after the 2025 law change?

On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in June or November, at the governing body's choice each year, for every South Dakota municipality and school district (SDCL 9-13-1 and 13-7-10, effective January 1, 2026). In 2027 that means June 8 or November 2. Cities must pick by January 14 and school boards at their first meeting after January 1. In even years the June or November date coincides with the state primary or general; a city may also adopt an ordinance to vote only in even years (SDCL 9-13-1.3).

How many signatures do I need on a South Dakota municipal nominating petition?

In a first- or second-class municipality, 5 percent of the registered voters of the city (or of your ward), measured on the second Tuesday of the month five months before the election, or 50 voters, whichever is less; in a third-class municipality, three registered voters (SDCL 9-13-9). School board petitions need 20 voters of the district or representation area (SDCL 13-7-6). Signers must be registered in the jurisdiction, and in a first-class South Dakota city they must give a street address, not a PO box (SOS petition guide).

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Sources

Facts on this page were checked against the official sources below on September 9, 2026. Rules change between cycles; when a number here and the agency disagree, the agency is right.