College of Agriculture Senator Ryan Brunner was cleared of charges saying he notarized absentee ballot applications without witnessing the person sign the form, said Brookings County State’s Attorney Clyde Calhoon.

The investigation is complete and no charges will be filed, Calhoon said.

“From now on I’m going to carry a registry, which used to be required by law and still is in some states,” Brunner said.

The registry would allow him to keep a list of signatures from people after he had notarized their absentee ballot application.

“If we had a registry, all this would have been over a lot sooner,” Brunner said.

All members of the College Republicans who are notarizing applications will carry a registry for the next election, said Brunner, who is vice chair of the group.

Brunner intends to contact state legislators before the session in January to discuss possible legislation aimed at preventing any ballot mishaps in the future.

A fourth person pleaded guilty last week to improperly notarizing absentee ballot applications during a Republican Party get-out-the-vote effort.

Eric Fahrendorf, 24, of Sioux Falls, was fined $200 and given a suspended 30-day jail sentence after his guilty plea Nov. 3.

Six workers for the GOP Victory effort resigned last month after questions surfaced about some absentee-ballot applications collected at college campuses across the state. Officials said the workers notarized applications collected by other workers, violating a state law that requires notaries to witness documents being signed before they can give them their official seal.

Rachel Hoff, 22; Joseph Alick, 28; and Todd Schlekeway, 27, all of Sioux Falls, pleaded guilty last week. They received $200 fines and 30-day suspended jail sentences.

Secretary of State Chris Nelson said he wants to meet with county auditors to find out what problems they encountered because of the rush of absentee voting this year.

A change in state law removed restrictions on absentee balloting and many auditors reported thousands of people voted before Election Day. The ballots are not counted until Election Day.

“The problems were all related to questions concerning absentee ballots,” Nelson said.

He attributed much of the state’s 78.6 percent voter turnout on Nov. 2 to the new law and high interest in the presidential and state congressional races.

“It’s great that the new law encourages people to vote,” he said. “This just kind of exploded on us.”

Nelson serves as chairman of the State Board of Elections, which analyzes election issues and makes recommendations for election-law changes to the Legislature.

He said he had no specific changes in mind now, but indicated he would like to discuss the issue in time to have needed revisions in place before the 2006 general election.

Two sports at South Dakota State University have been granted fast-track authority to compete in NCAA postseason competitions at the Division I level, the school said in a release.

The NCAA membership subcommittee has formally approved SDSU’s request to fully reclassify its women’s volleyball and men’s wrestling programs to Division I status beginning in the 2006-07 academic year.

SDSU is in the second year of a five-year process of reclassifying from NCAA Division II to Division I. All other Jackrabbit teams will become eligible for NCAA postseason competition in the 2008-09 school year.

The NCAA told SDSU on Aug. 12 that institutions reclassifying their entire athletic programs to Division I could select one male and one female sport other than football or basketball for fast-track reclassification. SDSU then completed the necessary paperwork and included the proposal in the school’s strategic plan before the Sept. 1 deadline.

“We are very excited to reclassify in two years instead of four,” said SDSU wrestling coach Jason Liles. “High school seniors will be able to redshirt their first year and then have four years to qualify for the postseason.”

The reclassification is also a huge boost to forming a wrestling conference with schools such as North Dakota State University, Northern Colorado and Southern Utah. They are also in discussion with Fresno State, Northern Iowa, Air Force, Wyoming and Eastern Illinois. SDSU will wrestle some of these schools this season, which opens on Nov. 6 with the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open at Frost Arena.

North Dakota State University and Northern Colorado also have been told their requests for wrestling and volleyball reclassification have been granted.

At NDSU, wrestling was picked because it made the original push to limit the probation.

On the women’s side, volleyball was selected because of the opportunity to generate revenue, its marketability and the fact that it generally is a core sport in Division I conferences, said Gene Taylor, Bison athletic director.

The most important benefit is recruiting. The next recruiting class NDSU wrestling coach Bucky Maughan signs will, after a redshirt season, be eligible for the Division I wrestling tournament.

“Tournaments are everything for wrestling,” Maughan said.

Volleyball coach Zandra Bina said the ruling could have a big impact on potential recruits from the area that might have been worried about being eligible for playoffs.

“For the ones who looked at that as a negative, well, it won’t be a negative anymore,” she said.

Collegian Sports Editor Faith Moldan contributed to this report.