STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA
OFFICE OF
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

January 20, 1972

G.E. Bollinger
State's Attorney, Sanborn County
Woonsocket, South Dakota 57385

OFFICIAL OPINION NO. 72-03

Two organized townships can be combined into one election precinct.

Dear Mr. Bollinger:

You have asked for an opinion on the following question:

1967-68 AGR 426 said that notwithstanding SDC (1939) 16.0801(4) county commissioners were not authorized to combine organized townships in to a single election precinct. This section has now become SDCL 12-14-6 as amended by Chapter 88 of the laws of 1970. Has this 1970 change now given us the authority to combine organized civil townships into single polling places notwithstanding SDCL 12-14-3?

SDC (1939) 16.0801 said substantially that the county commissioners shall designate precincts and polling places. The Commissioners are governed by several mandatory provisions, among which is Subsection 4 which provides townships, whether organized or unorganized, may be combined in a single election precinct except:

1. A precinct cannot contain more than five hundred votes, or

2. Each organized township shall constitute a separate election precinct.

The Attorney General, in AGR 1967-68, 426, held that the county commissioners could not establish an election precinct comprising more than one organized civil township. The Attorney General ruled that, in his opinion, subsection 4 of the above cited code provision authorized an organized township to be attached to an organized township, but it did not permit two organized townships to be combined.

The Code was recompiled in 1967. What was SDC (1939) 16.0801 is now SDCL (1967) 12-14-1 through 11. During the compilation, the Revisor made subsection (1) into a separate section, and subsection (2) into two separate sections. He also transposed the first half of subsection (2) with subsection (1).

As a result of this, the Code reads, substantially, that the county commissioners shall designate precincts and polling places. The commissioners are governed by several mandatory provisions, among which is SDCL (1967) 12-14-3, which provides townships, whether organized or unorganized, may be combined in a single election precinct except:

1. A precinct cannot contain more than one thousand votes,

2. An organized civil township having more than fifty-four sections and more than 350 registered electors may be divided upon a petition signed by one hundred electors, and

3. Any organized or unorganized townships may be combined into a single election precinct.

As can be seen, the effect of the revision was to eliminate the provision that teach organized township shall constitute a separate election precinct.

In view of the fact that the South Dakota Compiled Laws of 1967, as well as the

1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969 Session Laws have been enacted as the Code of Laws of the Session Laws of South Dakota (Chapter 17, § 1, 1967 Session Laws), it is my opinion that the laws of South Dakota no longer prohibit combining two organized civil townships into one election precinct. It is further my opinion that 1967-68 AGR 426 no longer properly interprets the laws of the State of South Dakota regarding precincts and polling places, and this opinion is hereby overruled.

Respectfully submitted,

Gordon Mydland
Attorney General