South Dakota’s 2026 general-election absentee voting period opens Friday, Sept. 18, giving registered voters more than six weeks to cast a ballot before Election Day.

The Secretary of State’s election calendar sets the general election for Nov. 3, with absentee voting beginning Sept. 18 and the voter-registration deadline falling Oct. 19. The opening matters because South Dakota treats in-person early voting as absentee voting: registered voters may go to their county auditor’s office during regular hours, request a ballot and vote there.

The state’s absentee-voting instructions say walk-in voters should bring valid photo identification. A voter without photo ID must be offered a personal-identification affidavit and may cast a regular ballot. Voters seeking a mailed ballot must send the county election official an original, signed application; fax or email applications are generally limited to military and overseas voters.

Timing is important for mailed ballots. The state says completed ballots must reach the county election official on Election Day early enough to be delivered to the voter’s precinct before polls close. That is a receipt deadline, not a postmark rule. An in-person absentee application may be made during regular office hours until 5 p.m. on the day before the election, whichever is later, but voters relying on mail should leave enough time for both the request and return trip.

The Nov. 3 ballot includes statewide and federal contests as well as four ballot measures, legislative races and some local races, according to South Dakota News Watch. The outlet reported that absentee ballots accounted for 32% of votes in 2024, up from 27% in 2016. Brookings County election officials described an increasingly even split between early and Election Day voting, underscoring that the Sept. 18 start is now a major operational point in the election calendar rather than a niche option.

Prospective voters should verify their status before requesting a ballot. The state registration page says an original-signed registration form must be received by the county auditor 15 days before the election; for this election, the calendar identifies Oct. 19 as the deadline. New registrants are also subject to a 2026 citizenship-document rule, while existing registered voters can confirm their record, precinct and polling place through the state’s Voter Information Portal.

County auditors administer the process, so office hours and any satellite-voting locations can vary. Voters planning an in-person visit should check with their county auditor first. Those requesting a ballot by mail should use the state application and return instructions rather than assuming Election Day postmarking will preserve the ballot.

The shift toward advance voting does not change when votes are counted. News Watch reported that counties may begin processing absentee ballots the day before Election Day, but may not count them until polls close. For voters, the practical decision is therefore about convenience and delivery risk, not an earlier release of results.