Voters are Independent/NPA if they write “Independent, I, Ind, no party affiliation, no party, no choice, nonpartisan or cross off the party.
Yes.
South Dakota has more voters who have registered themselves as Independent or No Party Affiliation (NPA) than Democrats as of Sept. 1, 2026.
The latest tally on the Secretary of State website reports 86,837 Independents and 69,182 NPA for a total of 156,019 voters. There are 134,453 registered Democrats.
Voters are considered Independent or NPA if they write “Independent, I, Ind, no party affiliation, no party, no choice, nonpartisan, or cross off the party choice” on their voter registration form or if they leave the party choice blank during first-time registration.
A state voter-registration presentation describes Independent and NPA voters as “one and the same.” The Secretary of State separately tracks the two categories in its voter-registration totals. The state Democratic Party allows registered Independent/NPA voters to participate in its primary elections.
In South Dakota, there are only three recognized parties: Democratic, Libertarian and Republican.
Sources
Secretary of State Office, Voter Registration Tracking
South Dakota Voter Registration Form, Application
Secretary of State Office, Voter turnout
DMV training, Voter registration presentation
About fact briefs
Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by South Dakota News Watch as part of the Gigafact network. Submit a question for us to answer on the tipline.
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