Democratic voter registration falls behind ‘other’ category in South Dakota

Historic shifts in South Dakota voter registration have culminated in a milestone: The number of voters registered as independents or without a political affiliation has surpassed the number of Democrats.

Independent and non-politically affiliated voters (those who leave the political affiliation blank when they first register) have been growing steadily in number since the 1990s. Meanwhile, Democratic registered voters have been in a steep decline since 2008.

No Labels recognized as a political party in South Dakota

Recently, for the first time, Democratic numbers dipped below the “other” category — the combined number of voters registered either as independent or with no affiliation.

According to the South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office, there are a combined 151,177 independent and non-politically affiliated registered voters in the state. There are 150,887 Democrats.

Republicans continue to be the largest political party in the state and recently surpassed the 300,000 registered-voter threshold. The number of registered Republicans in the state stands at 304,047, and Republicans hold every office that’s elected on a statewide basis.

Libertarians constitute the third largest political party in the state. They have 2,967 registered voters.

As Democrats deal with declining voter registration numbers, they’re also suffering inner-party strife. They removed their state party chairperson Saturday, following the resignation of the party’s executive director over allegations of a hostile work environment and alleged violations of the state party constitution.