12-1-5. State board created--Members--Terms--Vacancies--Oath. There is created a State Board of Elections to be composed of seven members, one of whom shall be the secretary of state who is chairman. Two of the members shall be county auditors appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives from a list of nominees supplied by the county auditors meeting at the South Dakota Association of County Officials. The auditors appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall be of different political party registration. One auditor appointed in 1991 shall be appointed for a two-year term and one shall be appointed for a four-year term. All appointments of auditors after 1991 shall be for four years. One member of the board shall be appointed by each of the following officers: the democratic leader of the Senate, the democratic leader of the House of Representatives, the republican leader of the Senate and the republican leader of the House of Representatives. Appointments to the board shall be as follows: the appointee of the democratic leader of the House of Representatives, 1980 and each fourth year thereafter; the appointee of the republican leader of the Senate, 1981 and each fourth year thereafter; the appointee of the republican leader of the House of Representatives, 1982 and each fourth year thereafter; the appointee of the democratic leader of the Senate, 1983 and each fourth year thereafter. After the appointments made in 1979, the terms of all appointed members of the board, except auditors, shall be for four years. All appointments to the board are to be made by January thirty-first of each year. Vacancies on the board shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointments were made. All appointed members of the board shall file with the secretary of state an oath in the form prescribed by § 3-1-5.

Source: SL 1974, ch 117, §§ 1, 2; SL 1978, ch 93, § 1; SL 1982, ch 124; SL 1989, ch 126.