Pierre, S.D. (Aug 17, 2022) – Just weeks before the 2022 general election begins, the South Dakota Freedom Caucus called on the Governor and fellow legislators to join them in taking immediate action in light of election integrity findings the caucus says they have recently become aware of.

The caucus has not disclosed the specific details regarding their findings, but stated that some of the issues are time sensitive and affect the oversight of the election process. 

“In light of the information we have recently become aware of, we are seeking the strong leadership of our Governor and our fellow legislators to take immediate action to preserve the integrity of our process prior to the upcoming elections,” said Freedom Caucus Chairman Aaron Aylward.

The caucus stated they will be looking to Governor Noem for her leadership and her administration, as she has been a vocal proponent of election integrity measures and earlier this year signed SB 122 into law, banning the private funding of our public election process. 

That law came after dozens of South Dakota counties received nearly $400,000 since 2020, in what some are calling “Zuck Bucks,” which was funding from the Center for Technology and Civic Life owned by Mark Zuckerberg and have been publicly scrutinized by officials as having undue influence over the election process.

“But those weren’t the only issues that were seen in this last primary election,” said Freedom Caucus Vice Chairman Representative Tony Randolph, making reference to the wrong ballots issued by Minnehaha poll workers during the primary election this year. 

The Freedom Caucus stated that they will be speaking with the Governor and Acting Attorney General Mark Vargo in the next following days to seek immediate action due to the time sensitive nature of the issue. The caucus said that they will provide further details of their findings at that time.

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