Lynn Teague
Guest Columnist
The South Carolina State Election Commission (SEC, not to be confused with anything athletic) has been in the news a lot in the past week, following the removal of Director Howard Knapp by a 3-2 vote of the commissioners last Wednesday. There had been reports of a SLED investigation involving Knapp, but no specific information.
Howard Knapp
This came during a period of uncertainty regarding the SEC’s response to the demands of the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) for our voter rolls, including sensitive personal information. The feds don’t have an impeccable record of data security of late, and this seems both not necessary (our rolls are already checked against federal databases to identify non-citizens and against multiple sources for other verifications) and a potential source of data exposure.
All of this has been further complicated by the firing of the Assistant Director of the SEC over a voice-activated recording device left, intentionally or not, in an SEC training and meeting room.
This turmoil has led to many questions. The first is whether voters should be panicked about what is happening, given elections that are coming soon. Should we panic about either the voting conditions or the integrity of the elections? This one is easy to answer.
Lynn Teague
We can expect the usual human glitches: the poll worker who forgets the key to the polling place and delays opening, the ballot marking device that won’t function, and similar technical problems. We should not expect anything else. At both the state and county levels, the people who make elections work on a day-to-day basis will continue to do the work that they know very well. They will conduct elections designed to count and report every vote, accurately. Furthermore, they will not be rudderless; they will be overseen by our bipartisan election commissioners.
However, this is followed by longer-term concerns. The privacy of our voter records is one of these. This issue is currently in court, in a case before Judge Daniel Coble in Columbia on 26 September. The data security issues around federal systems have already been mentioned.
In addition, it is here that the most important long-term issue arises: Is the South Carolina SEC the independent agency governed by appointed commissioners that we have believed that we have, or is it more vulnerable to political pressures? Commissioners are appointed by the governor, but during their terms cannot be removed except for cause. This is designed to insulate them from passing political storms.
We know that pressure from elected officlals is not unprecedented in the history of the SEC. The departure of the previous director, Marci Andino, followed some very angry comments from legislators who were disturbed by her letter suggesting an array of accommodations for voters during the pandemic. However, that what an exception to the history of the agency. On the whole, the South Carolina election management system contrasts markedly, and very favorably, with states where a partisan official oversees elections.
We should all hope that it stays that way, that South Carolina continues to preserve some measure of distance between partisan politics and the administration of what absolutely must be a non-partisan process, our elections. Politics today is highly adversarial and often becomes performance art, designed to get attention for the official or the official’s party rather than to achieve something substantive. Our elections should not be driven astray in those ugly winds.
Meanwhile, voters should check their registrations at scvotes.gov at least 30 days before elections. They should consult the League of Women Voters’ Vote411, where there is an abundance of election information, including candidate statements in their own words, not edited by anyone.
But after all that is done, we should hope that everyone will keep an eye on the General Assembly. The disturbances at the SEC are not a sound rationale for changing our election administration to one administered by partisan officials or in any way more vulnerable to manipulation. We should all be able to continue to vote with confidence that our votes are accurately tabulated and reported in a process that is not biased toward outcomes for one party or another (other than in redistricting, but that is another subject).
Lynn Teague is a retired archaeologist who works hard every day in public service. She is the legislative lobbyist for the South Carolina League of Women Voters.
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“There had been reports of a SLED investigation involving Knapp, but no specific information.”
Well, if you want some more specifics, you could check out Fitsnews…
https://www.fitsnews.com/2025/09/25/scvotes-sex-scandal-porn-lube-vibrator-and-a-love-journal/
If what is described in that post as evidence of an affair between Knapp and his top deputy is true (and I would assume Will Folks would be facing serious legal issues for posting it if it wasn’t) , then it is definitely a good thing both of them were fired.
There’s been enough incompetence in the election bureaucracy over the years that nothing is surprising.
If adultery was a concern or issue in the workplace, 30% (Conservative estimate) of the legislature would have to resign.
Pete Hegseth would not be Defense Secretary- who was cheating on his wife in the workplace.
there’s a difference between adultery and adultery with a person who directly reports to you..
Didn’t harm Bill Clinton or Hillary when he should have resigned.
I’d argue it did hurt Bill and Hillary. It derailed a big part of his 2nd term. Of course Monica didn’t directly report to Bill Clinton.
It certainly harmed Hillary. Republicans were still attacking her in 2016 for Bill’s adultery- while supporting seral adulterer Donald Trump.
of course, I didn’t vote for Bill or Hillary.
Hegseth was having an affair with his Fox News producer- someone in which Hegseth had significant power over.
“Of course Monica didn’t directly report to Bill Clinton.”
Oh, come on, Barry. That’s ridiculous. That’s like saying it’s forgivable for the king to mess around with a scullery maid because she actually reports to the head cook. I mean, why would she ever see the king as someone with greater power than she had, right?
“there’s a difference between adultery and adultery with a person who directly reports to you..”
Who do you think politicians have affairs with? Fellow politicians?
It wasn’t even 6 weeks ago that a former Senator in South Carolina alleged numerous such shenanigans going on at the state house in plain view.
There is always a significant power difference.
I had to laugh at myself when I read this parenthetical in Lynn’s lede, which began “SEC, not to be confused with anything…”
I, of course, expected the next word to be “financial.” It wasn’t, of course, because Lynn was writing it for most people, not for me. So the next word was, of course, “athletic.” I actually had to stop and think for a moment before realizing what she meant. I mean, you know, “SEC” has nothing to do with the Red Sox…
Anyway, I thank Lynn so much for writing this, and I apologize again for taking so long to post it…
Fortunately (as I’m sure most of you are thinking), most people are not me…
More evidence that the decision to not vote was a good one.
Wednesday, Coble (Judge) sided with the Trump administration. If you were surprised by his siding with Trump, you might not want to get out of bed in the morning- every morning. LOL
You mean Daniel? He’s a pretty good guy…
I’m sure he’s a good guy. I think most all judges would be considered good folks.
His decisions in such cases (pretty rare he gets one of these admittedly) side with Republican positions/arguments. But, this is South Carolina.
It’s interesting to see Republicans and so called Conservatives so eager to turn over data to the federal government that they also claim is too big, too involved in people’s lives, and too intrusive. Ahh, hypocrisy.
Why the federal government needs SC voter data including partial social security numbers and what primaries a voter votes has never been established.
is the position of the Trump Administration that AG Wilson, McMaster and the Republican dominated legislature aren’t doing their job?
South Carolina, by law, conducts random, detailed election audits after every election of counties/precincts in South Carolina to match up vote data.
Just another reason to remove your name from the voter rolls which- more people seem to be doing now. Problem solved.
And it what way is the problem solved, Barry? The only way to solve the problem is to vote. No, one vote doesn’t solve everything. But it’s the one, minimal thing you can do that is actually a step in the right direction.
Barry, think about all the people who risked (and sometimes lost) their lives helping black people register to vote in the early ’60s? That was as hopeless a situation (or almost, anyway) as you think ours is today? What could a vote from one powerless person do to change a system totally controlled (in their states, at least) by white supremacists?
And those folks rightly saw it as dangerous to even show up at the polling place, even after registering.
No one’s threatening you, and yet you refuse to show up. The amazing thing is, you think that HELPS — “problem solved.”
No, it does the exact opposite. You know these people who you complain about most of the time? Staying home is the biggest gift you could give them.
I respect your opinion on the matter. I’m actually joining my adult children who also don’t vote.
I am no longer a registered voter after registered in high school to vote. That was a long time ago.
The only thing the local elections office could not guarantee was that my info would be removed quickly enough to not be sent to the Trump administration. In fact, they said it probably would be but going forward it would be removed and not submitted in the future.
I am comfortable with my choice.