Buffalo County voter turnout
How many people does one vote speak for in Buffalo County, South Dakota?
Only 36% of eligible citizens in Buffalo County voted in the 2022 midterm.
2024 presidential: 42% turnout · 2.4 people per vote
Small county: the Census estimate behind this number has a wide margin of error, so treat it as approximate.
Turnout in Buffalo County
In the November 2022 midterm, 397 of Buffalo County’s 1,101 eligible citizens voted: 36.1% turnout. That’s 16.2 points lower than South Dakota overall (52.3%) and 9.9 points lower than the national rate (46.0%). With 704 eligible citizens sitting it out, each ballot cast spoke for 2.8 people.
In the 2024 presidential election, turnout was 42.3%, so each ballot spoke for 2.4 people. Midterm turnout here ran 6.2 points below the presidential year, which is why every vote in a midterm like 2026 carries extra weight.
Buffalo County ranks #3 of 66 counties in South Dakota for vote power (#1 has the lowest turnout, so each vote there counts for the most people).
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026 — register or check your status at vote.org.
| County | Rank | Turnout | Per vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oglala Lakota County | #1 | 28.5% | 3.5 |
| Todd County | #2 | 34.7% | 2.9 |
| Buffalo County | #3 | 36.1% | 2.8 |
| Corson County | #4 | 37.7% | 2.7 |
| Ziebach County | #5 | 38.7% | 2.6 |
| Clay County | #6 | 38.9% | 2.6 |
See all 66 South Dakota counties ranked →