Election integrity advocates have scored a legal victory in South Carolina after a federal judge ruled that the state must allow access to its voter rolls. The decision allows the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) to inspect the state’s voter registration list for potential ineligible voters.
The case centers on a request made by PILF, a nonprofit watchdog group focused on election transparency. The group sought access to South Carolina’s Statewide Voter Registration List (SVRL) under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993, which mandates public access to voter records. However, South Carolina’s State Election Commission (SEC) blocked the request, arguing that only state residents could access the data.
Judge Joseph F. Anderson Jr., who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, ruled that the state’s restrictions were invalid under federal law. Anderson stated that the NVRA requires full transparency in the maintenance of voter lists, overriding South Carolina’s residency requirement. “State law must yield to the federal mandate,” Anderson wrote in his decision.
PILF has used similar data from other states to expose inaccuracies in voter rolls, such as the inclusion of deceased individuals or duplicate registrations. The group’s mission is to ensure that voter lists are properly maintained to prevent potential election fraud. By granting PILF access, the court has opened the door to further scrutiny of South Carolina’s election records.
The ruling forces the SEC to provide the data despite its objections that state law prohibits non-residents from accessing voter information.
