SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — After a blog report showed a Republican candidate in District 1 lied about his residency, the South Dakota Democratic Party is looking to have the State Canvassing Board and Secretary of State not allow the candidate to appear on the ballot.
Logan Manhart filed his nominating petitions on Jan. 10 and is still listed as a candidate for District 1 House on the Secretary of State’s candidate list website. Manhart says his mailing and residence address is Bath, S.D. and signed his name under oath that he was eligible to run for office.
Voting records in Wisconsin show Manhart voted in that state on April 6, 2021 and he needed to be a Wisconsin resident for 28 days ahead of that election and could not have also been a resident of South Dakota.
The South Dakota Constitution requires a candidate to reside in South Dakota for at least two years prior to the general election (Nov. 8, 2022) which would make Manhart’s April 2021 Wisconsin residency ineligible to be a candidate for South Dakota Legislature.
According to his campaign website, Manhart is the son of Northern State University Professor Grant Manhart and it says Logan moved to Wisconsin in 2019 to further his college education. While in Wisconsin, Logan worked on President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and graduated in Wisconsin in 2021.
Both the SDDP and Democratic candidate Steven McCleerey have applied for a Writ of Prohibition to stop Manhart from being a certified candidate. A copy of the affidavit is listed below.
The affidavit states an article published by Cory Heidelberger on the blog Dakota Free Press on May 5, 2022 detailed Manhart’s voting history in Wisconsin. The affidavit says Manhart still had an active voter registration in Wisconsin as of May 11, 2022. Manhart voted in Wisconsin elections in February 18, August 11 and November 3 in 2020 and April 6, 2021.
SDDP Chairman Randy Seiler said Manhart is in clear violation of the South Dakota Constitution and not eligible to run for South Dakota House of Representatives.
“Manhart fraudulently signed his certification of candidacy which swore under oath that he was eligible to seek this office. His fraudulent behavior is a disservice to the voters of District 1,” Seiler said. “The law is clear that a candidate must have resided in South Dakota for two years prior to the general election. For this reason, the South Dakota Democratic Party applied for a Writ of Prohibition to prevent Logan Manhart from appearing on the ballot.”
If Manhart is decertified, there will be three candidates for two house seats in District 1: Republican Tamara St. John and Democrats Jennifer Keintz and McCleerey.