• County preps for Election Day. Minnehaha County Auditor Leah Anderson addressed the county commission Tuesday morning with an update on absentee ballots, voter turnout so far and confusion over folks who've been given "federal only" ballots (SD Searchlight has all the context on that here). Thousands of South Dakota voters have been switched from local voters to federal only voters after a change in state law essentially saying a P.O. Box or mail forwarding service doesn't count as proof of residency.
    • "I am confident in my office that we are doing this properly," Anderson told the commission about her enforcement of this law.
    • Commissioner Joe Kippley pushed back, saying it "doesn't sound like we're applying common sense and due process" – particularly when there are people who've been registered for years who've had their registration updated without their knowledge (as evidenced in the Searchlight story linked above).
    • As for voter turnout, Anderson said absentee voting started slow but has started to pick up and be on pace with previous primary elections. So far, her office has seen 2,800 absentee ballots.
  • Community Foundation awards $72K in grants. The Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation this week announced $72,000 in Community Fund grants to support area nonprofits including the Augustana University Research Institute, The Center for Disabilities, Downtown Sioux Falls, Foster 605, Levitt at the Falls and Teen Lead Foundation. The next cycle for Community Fund grants closes June 1 – learn more here.