In a rare step, 3 South Dakota counties are set to vote on counting ballots by hand

By JACK DURA
Associated Press

Voters in at least three South Dakota counties will decide whether ballots in future elections will be counted by hand. It’s a rare step even as others in the U.S. have considered a move to counting by hand in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s false claims of fraud in 2020. Only a few counties have seriously considered the switch, but most have ditched the idea as too costly. Experts say it’s also much slower and less accurate that using machine tabulators. In South Dakota’s June 4 primary, voters in Gregory, Haakon and Tripp counties will decide whether to prohibit tabulating machines and require hand counting.