Voters in at least three rural South Dakota counties are set to decide Tuesday whether to return to counting ballots by hand, the latest communities around the country to consider ditching machine tabulators based on unfounded conspiracy theories stemming from the 2020 presidential election.

The three counties, each with fewer than 6,000 residents, would be among the first in the U.S. to require old-school hand counts, which long ago were replaced by ballot tabulators in most of the country.

A number of other states and local governments have considered banning machine counting since the 2020 election, but most of those efforts have sputtered over concerns of cost, the time it takes to count by hand and the difficulty of hiring more staff to do it.

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Experts say counting the votes by hand is less accurate that machine tabulation.

Supporters of the South Dakota effort aren’t deterred by such worries.

“We believe that a decentralized approach to the elections is much more secure, much more transparent, and that the citizens should have oversight over their elections,” said Jessica Pollema, president of SD Canvassing, a citizen group supporting the change.

Like efforts elsewhere, the South Dakota push for hand counting has its origins in false claims pushed by former President Donald Trump and his allies after the 2020 presidential election. They made claims of widespread voter fraud and spread conspiracy theories that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election. There has been no evidence to support such claims, but they have become embedded in many places that voted heavily for Trump.

The citizen initiatives in South Dakota to prohibit tabulating machines are set to appear on Tuesday’s primary ballot in Gregory, Haakon and Tripp counties. Similar petition efforts for future measure votes are underway in more than 40 other counties in the conservative state, Pollema said. At least four counties have rejected attempts to force hand counting.

Earlier, the Fall River County Commission voted in February to count ballots by hand for the June election, and Tripp County counted its general election ballots by hand in 2022.

If the measure passes Tuesday, Gregory County Auditor Julie Bartling said the county will have to increase the number of precincts to lessen the burden of hand counting. That will force it to buy more assisted voting devices for disabled voters. The county also will face the difficult task of hiring more election workers.

Bartling, who runs elections in the county, opposes the initiative and said she has “full faith in the automated tabulators.”

Todd and Tripp County Auditor Barb DeSersa said she also opposes attempts to require hand counting of all ballots because the process isn’t as accurate. She said the 2022 hand count left election workers exhausted.

“I know the ones that have done it the last time didn’t want nothing to do with it this time, so I think once they do it once or twice, they’ll get tired of it, and it’ll be harder to find people to volunteer to do that,” DeSersa said.

DeSersa’s office estimated it would cost $17,000 to $25,000 for elections in Tripp County to be counted by hand, compared to about $19,000 to $21,000 using tabulators. Haakon County Auditor Stacy Pinney said she initially estimated hand counting will cost between $750 and $4,500, but “overall, an election cost is hard to determine at this point.”

According to a state attorney’s analysis for Haakon County, it would take two election workers using a tabulator three to four hours to count all the ballots. It would take 15 to 20 election workers between five and 15 hours to do a hand count, depending on the number of contested races.

The three counties have a combined 7,725 active registered voters, according to a statewide report.

Republican state Rep. Rocky Blare, who lives in Tripp County, said he will vote against the measure.

“They can’t prove to me that there’s been any issues that I think have affected our election in South Dakota,” Blare said.

Secretary of State Monae Johnson, a Republican, expressed confidence in tabulating machines, noting they have been used for years. In a statement, she pointed to “safeguards built in throughout the process and the post-election audit on the machines after the primary and general election to ensure they are working properly.”

The June election will be the first with a post-election audit, a process included in a 2023 state law. It involves hand counting all the votes in two races from 5% of precincts in every county to ensure the machine tabulation is accurate. Johnson’s office said there was no evidence of any widespread problems in 2020 or 2022. One person voted twice, she said, and was caught.

After repeated attacks against machine-counting of ballots in the 2020 presidential election, Dominion Voting Systems last year reached a $787 million settlement in a defamation case against Fox News over false claims the network repeatedly aired. The judge in that case found it was “CRYSTAL clear” none of the claims about Dominion’s machines was true, and testimony showed many Fox hosts quietly doubted the claims their network was airing.

Since 2020, only a few counties have made the switch to hand counting. In California, officials in Shasta County voted to get rid of their ballot tabulators, but state lawmakers later restricted hand counts to limited circumstances. Officials in Arizona’s Mohave County rejected a proposal to hand count ballots in 2023, citing the $1.1 million cost.

David Levine, a former local election official in Idaho who is now a senior fellow with the Alliance for Securing Democracy, said research has shown hand counting large numbers of ballots is more costly, less accurate and takes more time than machine tabulators.

“If you listen to conspiracy theorists and election skeptics throughout the U.S., one reason the 2020 election was illegitimate was because of an algorithm. Hence, if you take computers out of the voting process, you’ll have a more secure election,” Levine said. “The only problem: it’s not true.”

While some areas do count ballots by hand, mainly in the Northeast, it typically happens in places with a small number of registered voters. Hand counts are common during post-election tests to check that machines are counting ballots correctly, but only a small portion of the ballots are manually checked.

Election experts say it’s unrealistic to think workers in large jurisdictions, with tens or hundreds of thousands of voters, could count all their ballots by hand and report results quickly, especially since ballots often include multiple races.

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“The issue is that people aren’t very good at large, tedious, repetitive tasks like counting ballots, and computers are,” Levine said. “Those who believe otherwise are either unaware of this reality or choose to ignore it.”

SPOONER, WI — The United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) is pleased to announce the relocation of the Minnesota Moose to Spooner, Wis.

Upon moving from Minnesota to Northwest Wisconsin, the team will adopt a new identity as the Northwest Express. This transition will see the team continuing to compete in the highly competitive Midwest West division from their new home at the Spooner Civic Center.

The Spooner Civic Center, the largest rink in northwest Wisconsin, will now serve as the hub for the Northwest Express. This state-of-the-art facility boasts not only an expansive ice sheet but also a full-size gym, banquet halls, and a newly established bar and restaurant operated by the Express ownership. This extensive facility will offer an enhanced experience for both players and fans.

Building Community Ties

The Spooner Area Youth Hockey Association has expressed enthusiastic support for the arrival of the Northwest Express. Nikki Perkins, representing the association, shared, “Spooner Area Youth Hockey Association is excited to welcome the Northwest Express to the Spooner Civic Center for the fall of 2024. We look forward to building a relationship between our youth hockey program and the Express to continue to grow hockey in the community of Spooner, Wis. We are eager to work together to support the development of all skaters and provide the most positive experience for both the youth and the Junior A hockey team.”

Integrating into Spooner

Located in the heart of downtown Spooner, the Civic Center provides a strategic location for the Northwest Express to integrate into the community. The team is eager to engage in various volunteer opportunities, such as collaborating with the youth program, initiating book clubs, and more. Known for its lakes and cabin country, Spooner offers a unique environment for the team to establish their new hockey legacy.

Leadership and Continuity

The Northwest Express will maintain continuity with key personnel staying on board. Team Owner Joe Dibble, General Manager Jon Jonasson, and Head Coach Nic Leibold will continue in their previous roles, ensuring a smooth transition. The ownership structure will also remain unchanged, providing stability and continuity for the team.

Head Coach Nic Leibold expressed his excitement about the move, saying, “I am excited about this new chapter. The Moose had a great history in Blaine, and I look forward to the success that continues with the Express in Spooner. It will be a great experience for the players to come to the community and grow not just as hockey players, but also develop as young men. We feel this is an important aspect of junior hockey as these guys work toward their goal of college hockey.”

Team Owner Joe Dibble shared his personal connection to Spooner, stating, “We are excited about the move of our hockey program to the Spooner community starting in the Fall of 2024. Spooner has a rich history of Junior A Hockey, and we look to add to that with a new look and exciting brand of hockey. I was fortunate to spend time in the Spooner community as a player, along with bringing the Moose to Spooner for a short stint during COVID-19. Spooner is a special place to me, and I am excited to share that same experience with the players of the Northwest Express. The Northwest Express will be very involved in the community in many different aspects from assisting in youth hockey, volunteering at elementary schools, and any other way the team can find volunteer opportunities within the City of Spooner.”

About the United States Premier Hockey League

Founded in 2012, the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) is comprised of over 150 teams, fielding more than 20,000 players aged 8-21 in more than 100 organizations across the North, South, Midwest, West, and Canada. Our Junior Divisions consist of the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC), a tuition-free, Tier 2 Junior hockey division, and our Premier and Elite Divisions, all geared toward college and pro placement.

Our Youth and Midget divisions (operated through the Tier 1 Hockey Federation) field full season 9U through 18U teams. The USPHL has sent over 8,000 players to all levels of college hockey including over 3,300 into NCAA college hockey and over 200 players into NCAA Division I hockey. The USPHL has also had 17 players who played in the NCDC drafted by NHL teams.

A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a North Dakota man to 40 years in prison in connection with child sexual abuse images.

Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier, 36, of Grand Forks, has ties to former Republican state senator Ray Holmberg, who is accused of traveling to Europe with the intent of paying for sex with a minor.

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U.S. District Chief Judge Peter Welte also sentenced Morgan-Derosier to pay $39,000 in restitution to 13 victims and to serve a life term of supervised release.

An indictment in January 2022 charged him with six counts of possession of materials containing child sexual abuse images and other offenses including receipt and distribution of child sexual abuse images, transportation of child sexual abuse images, transportation of a minor and travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity.

The North Dakota U.S. Attorney’s Office said investigators found thousands of images and videos of child sexual abuse on devices at Morgan-Derosier’s home during a warranted search.

In September 2023, Morgan-Derosier signed a plea agreement pleading guilty to receipt and distribution and the six counts of possession.

“The monstrous conduct of this defendant towards children makes this strong sentence an appropriate one,” North Dakota U.S. Attorney Mac Schneider said in a statement. “This defendant preyed on kids online and in real life, and the public is safer now that he is in the long-term custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.”

The Associated Press left a phone message for Morgan-Derosier’s public defenders with a spokesman for the Federal Public Defender Office in Fargo.

Holmberg and Morgan-Derosier exchanged dozens of text messages in August 2021 when Morgan-Derosier was in jail for child sexual abuse charges, according to reporting by The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. Holmberg told The Forum the messages were about “a variety of things,” including patio work by Morgan-Derosier.

In early 2022, Holmberg, who is 80, announced he wouldn’t seek reelection, but he later resigned in the wake of The Forum’s reporting, after nearly 46 years in the North Dakota Senate. He was indicted last year and is scheduled for trial in September. He declined to comment on Morgan-Derosier’s sentencing.

“I just can’t talk about anything like this, according to — I’m following my attorney’s orders,” he said.