    Today is Primary Election Day in South Dakota with the polls will open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm, local time.
South Dakota is divided into 35 legislative districts with one Senator and two Representatives in each. Only contested races are on the primary election ballot with 45 of them this year.
Only one is between Democrats – Senate District 27th, which includes the Pine Ridge Reservation. Incumbent Red Dawn Foster, a member of the Navajo and Oglala Lakota nations, is challenged by OST member Gerald Cournoyer.
In Fall River County, the District 30 Senate race pits incumbent Julie Frye-Mueller against Forrest Foster and former Miss South Dakota Amber Hulse while there there are 6 candidates in the District 30 House race.
Incumbent Trish Ladner is joined by former representative Tim Goodwin and 4 newcomers – Pat Baumann, Matt Smith, Stephen Saint, and Matthew Monfore with 2 moving on to November.
There are also 7 candidates in the Republican primary for 3 at-large seats for County Commissioner. All 3 incumbents are running – Joe Allen, Les Cope, and Heath Greenough – along with challengers John Staben Jeannine Lacy, Trudy Valenzuela, and Sandra Wahlert
Elections go to an automatic recount if the vote is tied. In legislative and local races, candidates may request a recount if the margin is 2% or less of the total vote cast