An Act to allow an individual registering as a voter to designate optional contact information provided on a voter registration form as not for public inspection.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota:

Section 1. That § 12-4-9 be AMENDED:

12-4-9. The county auditor shall maintain and safeguard a file of voters in computer format that contains the information of each person registered in each voting precinct within the county. This file shall be known as the master registration file and shall be, at all times during office hours, open to public inspection. However, public access to social security numbers, driver license numbers, and dates of birth, telephone numbers, or email addresses contained in the master registration file is prohibited. The master registration file shall contain all information from each voter's registration card. The master registration file shall also include the date of the last election the voter has voted in and when the voter's information was last updated. The master registration file may also contain additional voter history information.

Any The county auditor shall keep any voter registration form for a purged or unregistered voter shall be kept for twenty-two months. No A purged or unregistered voter may not be included in the master registration file.

Section 2. That § 12-4-41 be AMENDED:

12-4-41. Any information Except as otherwise provided in this section, information obtained from the statewide voter registration file or any county voter registration file may be used or sold only for election purposes, may not be used for any commercial purpose, and may not be placed for unrestricted access on the internet. The social security number, driver license number, South Dakota nondriver identification number, date of birth, telephone number, or email address of a voter listed in the statewide voter registration file may not be used or sold for any purpose except as provided in § 12-4-40.1.

For the purpose purposes of this section, the term, commercial purpose, "commercial purpose" does not include campaign or political polling activities.

Any violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor. In addition to any criminal sanctions, the court may impose a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand dollars for each violation. Any civil penalty collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the general fund.

Section 3. This Act is effective beginning January 1, 2026.