Upon receipt of the sealed return envelope containing the voted ballots, the person in charge of the election or their designee shall mark the date of receipt on the envelope. The person in charge of the election shall keep the absentee ballot in a safe place without opening the envelope or breaking the seal thereof, and shall deliver it to the superintendent of the voter's home precinct, or to the absentee ballot counting board as provided in § 12-19-42. The person in charge of the election shall have the absentee ballots delivered with the election supplies, or if received later, then prior to the close of the polls. If the person in charge of the election creates an absentee ballot precinct, pursuant to § 12-19-37, the person in charge of the election must deliver to the superintendent of each precinct, the list containing the names of each voter who voted by absentee ballot along with the election supplies. On election day, the person in charge of the election shall forward to a precinct superintendent any updates to the list of voters who voted by absentee ballot upon receipt of an absentee ballot. If the precinct election board is not otherwise engaged in official duties, or if there are absentee ballots not processed when the polls close, immediately thereafter, the board must carefully compare the statement on the reverse side of the official return envelope with the written application received from the officer in charge of the election without opening or breaking the seal of the return envelope. The board shall omit the comparison of the statement and the application if the ballot is contained in a combined absentee ballot application form and return envelope. The precinct election board or the precinct counting board shall enter the voter's name in the election pollbook and mark the registration list whether:

1. (1) The ballot received was voted by the voter whose name appears on the statement;
2. (2) The voter is registered in the precinct and has not previously voted in that precinct at the election; and
3. (3) The written application and statement were both signed by the voter. The board shall then open the envelope without opening, unfolding, or examining the ballots the envelope may contain; stamp the ballots with the official stamp; and deposit the ballots with the other ballots cast at the election. If the board determines that an absentee ballot envelope cannot be opened because the envelope does not meet the requirements for opening, the reason for not opening the envelope must be written on the envelope, accompanied by the signature of a member of the board, and the envelope must be placed in a larger envelope for unopened absentee ballots. It is a Class 2 misdemeanor for an individual, prior to the counting of the votes, to open, unfold, or examine any ballot, or make any communication to any other individual concerning the markings or contents of the ballot, or to create any record associating an individual voter with a ballot.

Source: SL 1913, ch 200 , § 3; RC 1919, § 7228; SL 1925, ch 159 , § 3; SL 1929, ch 114 , § 2; SDC 1939, § 16.0608; SL 1941, ch 80 ; SL 1944 (SS), ch 2 , § 7; SL 1953, ch 75 , § 5; SL 1957, ch 85 , § 6; SDC Supp 1960, § 16.0616; SL 1963, ch 110 , §§ 3, 4; SDCL § 12-19-31; SL 1970, ch 91 , § 2; SL 1972, ch 90 , § 4; SL 1974, ch 118 , § 140; SL 1976, ch 105 , § 67; SL 1982, ch 86 , § 87; SL 1992, ch 115 , § 7; SL 1993, ch 118 , § 17; SL 2006, ch 72 , § 6; SL 2010, ch 74 , § 15; SL 2023, ch 51 , § 12; SL 2026, ch 73 , § 1, eff. Mar. 26, 2026.