Tim Johnson died recently at the age of 77. He was first elected to the South Dakota State Legislature in the November elections of 1978 and served there until 1986. In 1986 Johnson defeated PUC Commissioner Jim Burg for the Democratic Party’s nomination for the US House seat. In the general election that year, Johnson won and went on to serve in the US House for ten years. He defeated Republican incumbent Senator Larry Pressler to win election to the US Senate in November of 1996. In 2002, then Congressman John Thune challenged Senator Tim Johnson for the Senate seat. Thune lost by 524 votes in an election that had 71.5% turnout in South Dakota. Johnson would suffer from a stroke and a brain hemorrhage in 2006 and win one more Senate election in 2008 before retiring at the end of his term in January of 2015.
I’ve run in 13 different elections for various offices winning some close ones and losing a couple of close ones. I’m sure now that John Thune has been in the Senate for three terms and is on the cusp of becoming the Republican Leader in the Senate (and maybe the Majority Leader) that the sting of that “almost” loss to Johnson has faded. Imagine if everyone who was eligible had voted in that 2002 election, what might the outcome have been then?
The presidential contest of 2020 was one of the hottest, most contentious, hard fought nail biters of an election that the United States has ever seen, and voter turnout was only 66.7%. In the 2020 election, 169.31 million people were registered to vote. In addition, there was 21% or so of the US population that could have voted if they only would have registered, but they didn’t bother for one reason or another. In 2022, the number of registered voters actually went down to 161.42 million. How can that be, you ask? Some people die, some become felons and get struck off the rolls also when people move, and about 30 million Americans do so every year, they need to reregister to vote in their new location, and some don’t.
The registration numbers aren’t in for 2024 yet. That’s because in lots of states there is still time to register to vote. In South Dakota, a person has until 5pm on October 21, 2024, to register for the November 5th election. I grew up in Minnesota and there, at that time, (I’m not sure what the election laws are now in Minnesota) you could register on the very same day of the election right there at the polling place. So, we won’t know how many Americans have registered to vote in 2024 until after the November 5th election.
In 22 countries, voting is mandatory. For example, it’s mandatory in Australia and if you don’t vote, the fine is $50 for the first offense, and it goes up from there. Out of all the countries in the world that allow voting, Uruguay tops the list with 90.1% turnout, the United States comes in 31st in voter participation – just behind Greece and just ahead of Columbia.
In Mitchell, we’ve recently experienced both a mayor’s race and a vote on the lake project where the difference between winning and losing was a whisker and a gnat’s eyelash. People are still hopping mad about the lake vote. Several people in the months since the election have appeared before the City Council saying that those who didn’t vote would have voted their way. And that’s the point…
They didn’t vote. I taught American History for 36 years at Mitchell High School. I taught American History and Government for DWU and American History for USD. I made the same point in all those places and at all educational levels, “If you don’t vote – DON’T COMPLAIN!”
Decisions are made by those who show up. Politicians respond to groups that vote. Older folks vote and that’s why you see Social Security and Medicaid so fiercely protected by members of Congress. It’s also why you don’t see driving tests, age limits or other restrictions on driver’s licenses for the graying crowd. Grandpa and Grandma wouldn’t like that potential infringement on their independence, and they show up to vote to reward, or to punish, politicians.
We have a ton of things on the ballot in South Dakota. There’s the presidential race of course. The two Johnsons, Dusty and Sheryl, are facing off for the US House seat. The train wreck that is IM 28 (the removal of sales tax on anything humans can consume) with its $124 million to $640 million impact (depending on whose interpretation of products for “human consumption” you believe) is on the ballot. IM 29, recreational marijuana legalization, is up again before the voters. Modernizing the language in the South Dakota Constitution (taking out male pronouns and making the Constitution gender neutral) is on the ballot. Amendment F, that Catch-22 of politics, seeks to establish work requirements to qualify for Medicaid is on the ballot again. That one really gets my goat. First of all, the Legislature tried this two years ago and the voters soundly rejected it then. You’d think the dunderheads in Pierre would get the message. Amendment F wants people to work to get Medicaid, which is health insurance for the poor. But the fly in the buttermilk is – if Amendment F passes, you must work to get insurance for when you’re sick but then when you are sick and can’t work – oops sorry, no more insurance because you’re no longer working because you’re sick – so sad, too bad. What a crock…
Then there’s Amendment G that would allow women who are raped or victims of incest, among other reasons, to get an abortion. South Dakota law now says the only reason you can have an abortion is if your own life is on the very brink of death. There’s Referred Law 21, the so called “Landowner Bill of Rights” which is really the “We, the Legislature, are laying out the red carpet for Summit Carbon Solutions carbon capture pipeline” bill. Last but not least, is Amendment H that would institute a top two primary system and effectively make South Dakota a one party state. The practical effect of Amendment H is the destruction of the Democratic Party and the dilution of the Republican Party’s ability to choose their own standard bearers.
There’s a lot to be voting on in this election. There are measures that will change the course of this state for good or for ill, depending on your outlook. There are important issues and races on the ballot. It’s worth your time to register and vote. I hope you do so.