A federal court in South Carolina has ruled that the state must allow the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) to inspect its voter rolls. The decision comes after the South Carolina State Election Commission (SEC) refused to release the data, citing state laws restricting access to voter records.
The legal dispute arose when PILF, an organization dedicated to ensuring election integrity, requested access to the state’s voter registration list. The SEC denied the request, arguing that only qualified South Carolina voters could access the information. PILF took the matter to court, citing the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993, which requires public access to voter data.
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph F. Anderson Jr. ruled that the state’s laws conflicted with the NVRA. Anderson, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, explained that federal law supersedes state regulations when it comes to election transparency. “The state law must yield,” Anderson wrote in his opinion, pointing out that the NVRA guarantees public access to records concerning voter list accuracy.
PILF’s work has focused on identifying inaccuracies in voter rolls, such as voters who are deceased or registered in multiple states. The group uses data from voter rolls across the country to highlight where states may be failing in maintaining accurate voter lists. With this ruling, PILF can now examine South Carolina’s voter records for similar issues.
The SEC argued that its voter registration list was not subject to federal law, but the court disagreed, emphasizing that the data is crucial to ensuring election integrity.
