Shannon County, SD
The residents of Shannon County, SD have voted to change the name of the county to Oglala Lakota County. The vote tally from the November 4th election is
| Yes | 2,161 | 80.4% |
| No | 526 | 19.6% |
The process has several more steps until the name change becomes official, including a joint resolution of the South Dakota Legislature followed by a proclamation from the governor. The name change then becomes official on the first day of the first month following the proclamation. South Dakota Statute 7-1-71 and Statute 7-1-72 state:
7-1-71. Legislative resolution to change name. The Governor at the next convention of the annual session of the State Legislature shall communicate the result of an election held pursuant to § 7-1-69 in such county to the presiding officer of each branch of the Legislature, and thereupon the Legislature shall designate by joint resolution the new name of such county.
7-1-72. Governor’s proclamation of new county name. Upon the designation made by the Legislature pursuant to § 7-1-71, the Governor shall publicly proclaim the result of the election held pursuant to § 7-1-69 and of the new name of the county. The new name of such county shall be in full force and effect on the first day of the month following such proclamation by the Governor.
Shannon County Change of County Name Precinct Results Map
The vote for the “Shannon County Change of County Name” took place on the same day as the 2014 General Election, but on a separate paper ballot. A sample ballot with question wording may be seen here.
The map at the right shows the full Shannon County precinct result for the vote. All precincts voted in favor of the change except for Cuny Table, the precinct with the fewest votes in the northwest corner, where they voted against the change 22 to 19. Five precincts voted with more than 80% in favor.
| Map Key | >50% | >60% | >70% | >80% |
| Yes | ||||
| No |
The map key is shown at the right. The table below show the precinct-level data from the vote.
Shannon County Name Change Precinct Results
| Precinct Name | Yes Vote | No Vote | Yes % | No % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2,161 | 526 | 80% | 20% |
| Batesland | 69 | 43 | 62% | 38% |
| Cuny Table | 19 | 22 | 46% | 54% |
| Kyle | 299 | 69 | 81% | 19% |
| Manderson | 150 | 27 | 85% | 15% |
| Oglala | 336 | 90 | 79% | 21% |
| Pine Ridge 1 | 538 | 116 | 82% | 18% |
| Pine Ridge 3 | 375 | 75 | 83% | 17% |
| Porcupine | 322 | 62 | 84% | 16% |
| Rockyford | 53 | 22 | 71% | 29% |
Shannon County was Barack Obama’s best county in the 2012 General Election (see statistics page), where he won with 93.4% of the vote. Mitt Romney only managed 6.0%. Full 2012 Shannon County presidential results are available here.