Texting Voters in a South Dakota Local Race: Consent and Setup

To text voters in a South Dakota city council or school board race, you need three things in place. First, written permission from each person you text, given before you text them, with the date recorded. Second, a committee registered with an election authority, with an EIN (its federal tax ID number), that can pass Campaign Verify, the check that confirms to the mobile phone companies that you are a real campaign. Third, a registered texting number that sends only to people who agreed to hear from you, and only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone.

Two points need extra care in South Dakota. Every city and school board candidate files a nominating petition, and a petition signature is not permission to text. Also, Campaign Verify needs a filing published online by an election authority, so check that your local committee filing can be viewed online before you apply. This guide walks through consent, Campaign Verify and setup in order.

For the rest of the campaign, from the petition to Election Day, see our guide to running for city council or school board in South Dakota.

Step 1: Get written permission before you text

The mobile phone companies, called carriers, require opt-in for application-to-person texting, which means texts sent through a texting service rather than typed one by one on a personal phone. Political texting is included. Base your texting on prior express written consent: each person has agreed in writing, before your first message, to receive campaign texts from you at that number. In practice:

• Use a sign-up sheet or form that says so plainly. For example: "Yes, text me updates from the Jordan Lee for City Council campaign. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help. Reply STOP to opt out." Include a line for the phone number and the date.
• Record the date and where the permission came from. Keep the paper sheets. In your texting account, note the source, such as "coffee meeting at the library."
• Do not text people because their number is on a list. A voter list, a purchased list or a neighborhood directory is not permission.
• A conversation at the door is not enough on its own. If someone at the door says they would like updates, ask them to sign your sheet, and record the date.

Petition signers are not a texting list

Signing your nominating petition supports your place on the ballot. It is not permission to receive texts. Do not text everyone who signed. Instead, carry a separate sign-up sheet while you or your circulators collect signatures, and ask each signer whether they would also like campaign updates by text. City petitions may circulate from on or about Monday, February 8, 2027 for a June 8 election, and school petitions from Friday, January 1, 2027, both based on state law, so this is one of the first chances to build your list.

A note on the FCC rule you may have heard about

You may read that the FCC requires consent to be given to one sender at a time. That rule never took effect. A federal appeals court vacated it on January 24, 2025, and the FCC removed it in August 2025. Written consent for your own campaign, recorded with a date, remains the standard to follow.

Step 2: Make sure your campaign has a committee and an EIN

Campaign Verify is available to a committee registered with an election authority. Candidates with no committee, and sole proprietors, are not eligible. If you are not sure whether your campaign has, or needs, a registered committee, ask your filing officer or the Secretary of State's office. That question is separate from your nominating petition.

Once your committee is in place, get an EIN for it from the IRS. You need it for Campaign Verify.

Step 3: Confirm your filing is online, then request Campaign Verify

Check first

Campaign Verify checks your committee against an election-authority filing that is published online, and it sends its PIN (the code that completes your request) only to the contact details on that filing. Local committee filings are not always posted online. Before you pay for a request:

1. Ask the office where your committee filed whether the filing is posted online, and where.
2. If it is online, check that the committee name, email, phone and mailing address are current. The PIN arrives quickly by email or text, and by mail it takes 5 to 10 business days.
3. If it is not online, contact Campaign Verify Support and ask how they handle a local filing that is not published online. Do not submit a request until you have their answer.

We cannot promise that any committee will be found eligible. That decision belongs to Campaign Verify.

Timing and cost

• Campaign Verify costs $95 per two-year cycle.
• A request made on or after Sunday, November 15, 2026 lasts until January 31, 2029. A request made before that date expires January 31, 2027, before either 2027 election. Most South Dakota candidates can wait for the later date.

Our post on Campaign Verify for local candidates covers the process in more depth.

Step 4: Set up your texting in CampaignCNX+

Once your committee is verified or your request is under way, set up the sending side.

1. Open your account. 100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month.
2. Let CampaignCNX+ file the carrier registration. For a local-style number, the carriers require a registration called 10DLC. A toll-free number goes through its own carrier review, which usually takes about three business days. CampaignCNX+ files either one for you. You buy the $95 token from Campaign Verify, and CampaignCNX+ files it with the registration. Request the token for the kind of number you use, 10DLC or toll-free, because Campaign Verify issues a separate token for each.
3. Add your opted-in supporters. Use tags and groups to sort them, such as "petition," "doors" or "volunteers." Record each person's consent date and source in a custom field.
4. Schedule within quiet hours. Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone. You can schedule texts ahead of time, set repeating texts, or build a drip sequence (a series of texts sent on a schedule) for new sign-ups.
5. Let opt-outs take care of themselves. STOP, HELP and START replies are handled automatically. When someone replies STOP, they stop receiving your texts.
6. Decide who answers replies. Replies can come into a shared inbox, so you and your team members can read and answer them (staffers see the inbox once you allow it). The inbox is an add-on at $12.49 a month, included on Enterprise.

What it costs

Pay as you go is $0.06 per SMS. Monthly plans start with Basic at $55 a month for 1,000 texts. An MMS (a message with a picture) uses three credits. The number is $5 a month, and 10DLC registration is a one-time $75 for your first local line. Unused plan texts roll over, and pay-as-you-go credits never expire.

Step 5: Send the right message at the right time

South Dakota's 2027 calendar gives you natural moments to text. Keep each message short, name the campaign, and include "Reply STOP to opt out" on the first message to each person. The examples below use a June 8 city election. For a November 2 election, the matching dates are Monday, October 18 and Tuesday, November 2, 2027.

Welcome, after someone signs up:

Hi [First Name], this is Jordan Lee, running for City Council on June 8. Thanks for signing up. I will text a few key updates. Reply STOP to opt out

Voter registration deadline, Monday, May 24, 2027 at 5 p.m. (based on state law):

Jordan Lee for City Council: voter registration for the June 8 city election closes Mon, May 24 at 5 p.m. Your county auditor can help you register.

Absentee voting. State law requires absentee ballots to be available no later than 15 days before Election Day. Ask your finance officer or business manager when absentee voting opens, and send this once it does:

Jordan Lee for City Council: absentee voting for the June 8 election is open. Ask the city finance office for times and locations. Thank you.

Election Day, Tuesday, June 8, 2027:

Jordan Lee for City Council: today is Election Day. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thank you for your support.

If your race is uncontested. If no more candidates file than there are seats, and nothing else is on the ballot, no election is held and the unopposed candidates receive certificates of election. In that case, skip the Election Day reminders and send a thank-you instead.

Before sending, confirm each detail with your finance officer or business manager, including the dates, absentee voting times and polling places. For more wording, see our campaign text templates for local races, and for every date in the cycle, our South Dakota 2027 city and school election calendar.

A short checklist

• Written, dated permission from every person you text.
• No texts to petition signers who did not separately sign up.
• A committee registered with an election authority, with an EIN.
• Filing confirmed online, or Campaign Verify Support consulted, before you request.
• Campaign Verify requested on or after Sunday, November 15, 2026.
• Messages scheduled between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, with opt-outs handled.

For texting rules in other states in the region, see our Midwest texting page.

Get set up before circulation begins

Open your account in the weeks before circulation, and have your number registered before the busy weeks before the petition deadline. Start a trial once your committee filing is in place.