A legislative committee voted unanimously on Thursday to order South Dakota’s secretary of state to answer questions about the state’s election equipment contracts.

Secretary of State Monae Johnson was expected to attend Thursday’s meeting, but canceled a couple of days beforehand, said Sen. Taffy Howard, R-Rapid City, the chair of the Government Operations and Audit Committee.

“We represent the entirety of the Legislature and we represent the citizens of this state,” Howard said. “Essentially, when you disregard this committee, you are disregarding the citizens of this state.”

The order to appear is known as a subpoena. The committee is using expanded oversight powers granted by the Legislature earlier this year to issue subpoenas, without an extra sign-off from the Legislature’s E

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