Vote South Dakota forum aims to shed light on ‘complicated’ election

South Dakota News Watch (AP) — Trina Lapp, an 18-year-old Milbank native who attends Dakota Wesleyan University, doesn’t view politics or the upcoming election as an afterthought. She’s digging in.

“I think it’s important for young people to be involved and learn about the candidates and issues,” said Lapp. “We’re the upcoming generation that will be the main voters eventually.”

She is one of several Dakota Wesleyan students who will take part in a Vote South Dakota forum Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Sherman Center on the DWU campus in Mitchell.

Students will team up with South Dakota journalists to ask questions at the forum, which is presented by South Dakota Public Broadcasting, South Dakota News Watch, the McGovern Center for Leadership and Public Service and Dakota Wesleyan University.

The two-hour event, to be televised live on SDPB and streamed by several commercial TV stations across the state, will feature candidates for the Public Utilities Commission and representatives of both sides of constitutional amendments and initiated/referred measures that will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Republican U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson and his Democratic opponent, Sheryl Johnson, will meet in a separate debate on Oct. 15 that also will be broadcast live on SDPB.

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‘A lot to unpack’

There are seven ballot measures in South Dakota’s 2024 election, including abortion rights, open primaries, grocery tax repeal and recreational marijuana.

Joel Allen, director of the McGovern Center on the DWU campus, noted that several of the measures have complex language that voters should hear more about before deciding.

“This is going to be a complicated election,” said Allen, a professor of religion and philosophy. “There’s a lot to unpack, so when I heard about this event, it was a no-brainer. I knew we needed to be a part of it.”

The forum comes at a time of declining trust in democratic institutions in South Dakota and nationally, according to recent polling. A survey co-sponsored by South Dakota News Watch in May found that more than 6 in 10 South Dakotans said they were dissatisfied with how democracy is working in the United States, including 32% who said they were “very dissatisfied.”

That was followed by historically low turnout in primary elections in June, with just 17% of voters casting ballots, below the state’s primary turnout in presidential cycles of 2020 (28%), 2016 (22%) and 2012 (21%).

Cara Hetland, director of journalism at SDPB, sees an important role for the media in engaging and informing prospective voters ahead of the general election. She came up with the idea for Vote South Dakota, a partnership among SDPB, News Watch, the South Dakota Broadcasters Association (SDBA) and the South Dakota NewsMedia Association (SDNA).

“I feel very strongly about the role that journalists play in asking tough questions and getting clarifications and calling out false statements when appropriate,” said Hetland. “It’s our duty to hold accountable those who are running for office and standing for these (ballot measures).”

Besides organizing the forum, the effort includes the VoteSouthDakota.com website that has a legislative map with information about candidates as well as stories about the election from several news organizations.

Teams of regional journalists and DWU students will ask questions of candidates and those representing each issue at the forum, which will be hosted by SDPB’s Jackie Hendry.

Lapp, a nursing major, will be asking questions about the open primaries amendment and takes her role seriously. She noted that social media outlets such as TikTok are not always reliable sources of information and that “it’s important for my generation to be more involved and hear directly from the candidates.”

Those are encouraging words to Allen of the McGovern Center, founded in 2006 in honor of former South Dakota stateman and presidential candidate George McGovern and his wife, Eleanor. The center’s mission, in part, is to “cultivate leaders of integrity who are committed to civic responsibility in their communities.”

McGovern, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate and was the 1972 Democratic presidential nominee, died in 2012.

“I envision telling George that we’re doing this (forum), and I can just see a big grin on his face,” Allen said. “This is something that he would love.”

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This story was originally published by South Dakota News Watch and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.