Ben Nesselhuf for South Dakota—Democratic Candidate for Secretary of State

Sioux Falls would have to work incredibly hard to produce a poorer performance than the 3.55 percent voter turnout for last year’s school board election.

From that standpoint, a proposal to streamline voting sites could only be a step up.

The Sioux Falls School District is pushing for a change in state law to use about 10 voting centers instead of precincts for the 2011 election.

Under the pilot test, each voting center would be open to all voters – regardless of where they live – and use networked electronic voting booths so that no one could vote twice.

Secretary of State Chris Nelson is reserving judgment on the idea until he sees language of the proposed legislation. Nelson’s main concern is a good one – protecting the voting system from fraud.

However, given that no one’s hardly even voting in school board elections – most notably when there isn’t a companion hot-topic ballot issue – it’s clear that Sioux Falls needs to at least try this pilot system in order to possibly boost voter turnout.

But to do that, the district needs legislative approval.

Minnehaha County Auditor Sue Roust says the pilot system could save taxpayer money, and that’s certainly important.

What’s more important, though, is creating an effective democratic process – one that encourages participation as much as possible.

From a 3.55 percent voter turnout, there’s a whole lot of room to grow.

So let’s make sure the essential safeguards are in place, but then the Legislature should grant Sioux Falls the ability to give the pilot system a try