Pine Ridge Indian Reservation alcohol vote too close to call

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A vote to end prohibition and allow alcohol on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation got more votes, but the election outcome was too close to call late Tuesday because of a high number of challenged ballots.

The measure got a majority of yes votes in the unofficial count: 1,645 to 1,494, according to tribal spokeswoman Tony Red Cloud.

But because 438 votes were challenged – more than the difference – the outcome of the election won’t be known until those are checked, tribal President Bryan Brewer said.

In the next couple of days, election workers will verify that the people who cast those challenged ballots are enrolled members and living on the reservation.

“People that might not have ever voted in the past when they go to vote. Because they’re not on the census, on the rolls, they will challenge that vote. And sometimes people might move to a different district where their name isn’t on it, they’ll challenge that vote,” Brewer said of the usual reasons. “Usually challenged votes don’t change an election, but that’s a lot of challenged votes.”

Pine Ridge is the last South Dakota reservation where alcohol is illegal. It’s unclear how many reservations nationwide are still dry. If Tuesday’s measure passes, profits from alcohol sales would be used for education, detoxification and treatment centers, for which there is currently little to no funding.

Critics said legalization would only exacerbate the reservation’s troubles. Alcohol is blamed for some of the highest rates of domestic abuse, suicide, infant mortality, unemployment and violent crime in Indian Country.

Both sides in the debate agree something must be done to limit the scourge of alcohol on the Lakota people. They also share a goal of putting out of business the current main suppliers of booze for tribal members: four stores in Whiteclay, two miles south of Pine Ridge, that sell millions of cans of beer a year.

Federal law bans the sale of alcohol on Native American reservations unless the tribal council allows it. Pine Ridge legalized alcohol for two months in 1970s, but the ban was quickly restored. An attempt to lift prohibition in 2004 also failed.