Former vice president and presumptive nominee Joe Biden won the primary with 77.5% of the vote and 13 delegates and crossed the necessary majority of 1,991 delegates to officially win the Democratic nomination three days later during the vote count.[1] Senator Bernie Sanders, who had suspended his campaign two months earlier, earned the remaining 22.5% and 3 delegates. South Dakota was one of only two states where Biden and Sanders had been the only remaining candidates on the ballot.
Voting took place throughout the state from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. In the semi-closed primary, candidates had to meet a threshold of 15% statewide (coterminous with the state's sole congressional district) to be considered viable. The 16 pledged delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention were allocated proportionally on the basis of the primary results. Of these, 10 were district-level delegates and another 2 were allocated to party leaders and elected officials (PLEO delegates), in addition to 4 at-large delegates.[3] Originally planned with 13 delegates, the final number included a 20% bonus of 3 additional delegates on the original number of 8 district and 3 at-large delegates by the Democratic National Committee due to the June date, which belonged to Stage III on the primary timetable.[4][5]
Regional and legislative district caucuses met on March 14 to elect delegates to the congressional district caucus. On March 21, the congressional district caucus convened in Pierre to designate national convention district-level delegates. The state convention then met virtually on June 20 and voted on the 4 at-large and pledged 2 PLEO delegates for the Democratic National Convention. The delegation also included 5 unpledged PLEO delegates: 4 members of the Democratic National Committee and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.[3]
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