Simplified: It's election season in Sioux Falls, and while the statewide races might make the most headlines, it'll be the folks in the mayoral, city council and school board seats who make the decisions that most affect you. Here's your complete guide to the local races you'll see on the June 2 ballot.

Tell me what's on the ballot

That's more of a complex question than you'd think.

Ballots will vary depending on your political party, your state legislative district, your school district, your county and what side of town you live on.

The best way to see your sample ballot is on the Secretary of State's website.

  • You'll see a "View Sample Ballot" button, which will take you to a page that looks like this*:

*Note: I'm registered as an independent because, journalist, so this is what comes up for me. Because the Republicans have a closed primary – meaning only registered Republicans can vote in primary races like governor, state legislature, etc – it defaults to this messaging for anyone registered as anything besides Republican.

  • Click the "View Sample Ballot" for non-political contests. School board, city council and mayoral races are all nonpartisan.

Tell me about the mayoral candidates

Five people are running to be Sioux Falls' next mayor. Here's a run-down:

Meet the candidates for Sioux Falls Mayor
Each candidate sat down with Sioux Falls Simplified for an interview to talk through a number of important issues – including many reader-submitted topics. Here’s your Simplified guide to the mayor’s race.
Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

Here's how the mayoral candidates responded to a variety of policy topics:

At the risk of this story turning into a novel, you'll find specific topic-based stories linked below that you can peruse based on your interests and concerns. Click the topic below to see candidate responses to questions on that topic.

  • Prefer to watch/listen instead of reading? Watch full interviews with all six candidates on this YouTube playlist.

Here's how the candidates responded to questions regarding:

Tell me more about the City Council candidates

There are four open seats on the Sioux Falls City Council. Two are "at-large," meaning candidates represent the entire city, and the other two represent specific areas of town: Central and Southeast Districts.

  • Prefer to listen? Watch/listen to full interviews with all City Council candidates on this YouTube playlist.

Here's a look at the At-Large candidates

Meet the At-Large City Council candidates
Four of the five candidates sat down with Sioux Falls Simplified for filmed interviews covering a wide range of topics from affordable housing to data centers and much more.
Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

Here's how the At-Large candidates responded to questions regarding:

Here's a look at the Central District candidates

Meet the Central District City Council candidates
Five people are looking to fill one open seats representing Sioux Falls’ core neighborhoods on the Sioux Falls City Council. Hear from them on a wide variety of important issues.
Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

Here's how the candidates responded to questions regarding:

Here's a look at the Southeast District candidates

Meet the Southeast District City Council candidates
Three people are looking to fill one open seat representing Sioux Falls’ southeast neighborhoods on the Sioux Falls City Council.
Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

Here's how the candidates responded to questions regarding:

Meet the Sioux Falls School Board candidates

Six candidates are running for three open seats on the Sioux Falls School Board. Sioux Falls Simplified sat down with all six of them to talk about a wide variety of topics relevant to the district, teachers, students and taxpayers.

Here's a closer look at those conversations:

Meet the Sioux Falls School Board candidates
Six people are looking to fill three open seats on the board overseeing South Dakota’s largest school district. Sioux Falls Simplified talked to all six of them on a variety of relevant issues.
Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

Ok, now what's the deal with these charter amendments?

Yeah, there's five of them.

  • But really only a couple have actual policy implications. One of them is just correcting a typo, and another is updating some now-incorrect dates written into the city charter (aka the governing document for the City of Sioux Falls).

Here's a closer look at each of those amendments and what a "yes" or "no" vote would mean:

What’s a charter amendment and why do I need to vote on five of them in June?
Residents will weigh in on five proposed changes to the City Charter, the governing document for Sioux Falls. Here’s a simplified look at those proposed changes, and what your vote either way would mean for the city.
Sioux Falls SimplifiedMegan Raposa

I have a question that isn't answered here

Feel free to send me an email at megan@sfsimplified.com, and I'll do my best to help you out!