With less than a week before Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3, states across the U.S. are seeing record voter turnout in early and absentee voting.
In South Dakota, early votes as of Oct. 27 had come to 40.2% of those cast in 2016, which is just behind the national average of 48.2%, according to statistics from the U.S. Elections Project. That included 152,244 early votes cast.
While much of the voter turnout may be based in a desire to influence the 2020 presidential election, local voters have other issues that are driving them to have their voice heard this election season.
Shirlee Meier, of Sioux Falls, told Sioux Empire Today that, while the presidential race is very important to her, she plans to vote in every race on the ballot.
“They want to make marijuana two different things: legal and for, what they say is, health; for pain,” Meier told Sioux Empire Today.
She said she is also concerned about the gambling issue on the ballot. Still, she said that she feels the national election will have a longstanding impact on the direction of the country.
“It’s going to determine where we go: Are we going to go to socialism, or are we going to go back to God and put God back in our country, and be a prosperous and blessed nation again,” Meier said.
Meier says she tries to find out as much as she can about the principles of the candidates before voting.
“Sometimes, you can’t get a perfect person, but you vote for those who come closest to what you feel is important and you value,” she said.
Ultimately, everyone should see voting as a duty and responsibility, Meier said.
“Everybody’s vote is important,” she told Sioux Empire Today.
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