June 5—MITCHELL — Closely contested races for Mitchell mayor and the baggage ballot question put Mitchell and Davison County election turnout among the best in the state Tuesday night.
According to city finance director Michelle Bathke, a 45.01% turnout was recorded among city voters, with 4,324 city votes cast among 9,606 registered voters. The 45% figure is tied to the 2012 city elections for the highest turnout, which followed a similar voting format, with a mayoral race, a state election and a special election on one-way streets in the city. It also surpassed the 44% turnout in the 2007 special election for the proposed downtown event center and arena.
The decision to hold the election in June 2024 was made 11 months ago by the Mitchell City Council, which voted 5-3 to hold the election along with the primary, instead of a possible election date of December 2023. Some council members were concerned that waiting longer would harm the project and increase the likelihood that it would be voted down.
In terms of the primary vote, turnout in Davison County was calculated at 40.79%, with 4,422 votes cast out of a potential 10,841 registered voters, again buoyed by the Mitchell election.
Primary voter turnout in Davison County on Tuesday was the second-highest among South Dakota’s 66 counties. Only Harding County’s turnout was higher (40.89%), thanks to Republican House and Senate primaries and local school board elections.
Other counties with turnout rates around 40% included Faulk (40.46%), McPherson (40.46%), Jones (40.21%), Sully (40.16%) and Gregory (39.47%) .
Sanborn County had the lowest turnout in the state on Tuesday at 4.83%, with only 31 votes cast out of a potential pool of 641 voters. All voters voted at the 4-H building in Forestburg, with only the Democratic presidential primary on the ballot.
Hughes County, home to Pierre and the state government, had the second-lowest turnout rate in the state at 4.93%, with only 303 votes cast out of 6,144 registered voters. County voters were limited in the races they decided, with the Democratic presidential primary and two Republican county commissioners on the ballot. In the small town of Harrol – with a population of 99 inhabitants – only one vote was cast at the polling station during the twelve hours the polling stations were open.
