{"id":2202022,"date":"2024-03-19T16:19:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T20:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-south-carolinas-refusal-to-disclose-voter-roll-data-is-illegal\/"},"modified":"2024-03-19T16:24:17","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T20:24:17","slug":"lawsuit-south-carolinas-refusal-to-disclose-voter-roll-data-is-illegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-south-carolinas-refusal-to-disclose-voter-roll-data-is-illegal\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Challenge: South Carolina&#8217;s Withholding of Voter Roll Information Deemed Unlawful"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flawsuit-south-carolinas-refusal-to-disclose-voter-roll-data-is-illegal%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2202022&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<figure>\n            <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>At the heart \u2064of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-rules-utah-city-violated-first-amendment-in-canceling-public-drag-show\/\" title=\"Utah city found guilty of First Amendment violation for canceling public drag show.\">groundbreaking legal battle<\/a><\/strong>, a lawsuit launched\u2062 on Thursday challenges South Carolina&#8217;s stance on maintaining \u200dthe secrecy of its voter roll \u2063data,\u200c suggesting it may be \u200cat odds with federal statutes.<\/p>\n<p>The legalpush\u200b spearheaded\u200b by the \u2062Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, refutes South \u200bCarolina Election Commission&#8217;s executive director, Howard Knapp&#8217;s decision. The<a href=\"https:\/\/publicinterestlegal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/complaint.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suit<\/a> \u2064 argues that such refusal breaches the National Voter Registration Act&#8217;s (NVRA) decree for transparency.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The NVRA&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/52\/20507\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">public disclosure provision<\/a> explicitly mandates that states are required to keep and make available all voter-related \u200brecords for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gov-cuomo-aide-reveals-n-y-state-withheld-nursing-home-covid-19-death-data\/\" title=\"Gov. Cuomo aide reveals N.Y. state withheld nursing home COVID-19 death data\">public scrutiny<\/a>, which ensures the authenticity and updates of\u200d official voter lists.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The only exclusions to this rule involve privacy-sensitive documents that reveal\u2064 how or where individuals registered or chose not to register.<\/p>\n<h2>Request to Reveal \u200dVoter Rolls Met With Denial<\/h2>\n<p>PILF&#8217;s efforts to access South Carolina&#8217;s voter lists met a dead end on February 20, with the rejection by the election commission\u200d favoring state law over federal requirements, reserving such access to in-state \u200c&#8217;qualified electors&#8217; only.<\/p>\n<h3>Countering the Commission&#8217;s Stance<\/h3>\n<p>In rapid response, PILF \u2064cited a breach of the NVRA in light of this \u200ddenial, setting a 20-day response deadline to avert\u200d a lawsuit aimed at acquiring the requested data.<\/p>\n<p>The argument is clear-cut, as stated in the legal document, &#8220;<strong>The Defendant&#8217;s \u2062denial of the Foundation\u2019s request for the Voter Roll violates the NVRA<\/strong>.&#8221; Furthermore,\u2064 any state provisions conflicting with the NVRA are considered overridden by the Constitution&#8217;s supremacy.<\/p>\n<h3>The Legal Foundation&#8217;s Demands<\/h3>\n<p>PILF is seeking a formal \u200ddeclaration that Knapp&#8217;s actions\u200c contravene the\u2064 NVRA and that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/teachers-union-tells-teachers-to-ignore-florida-law-banning-transgender-propaganda-in-schools\/\" title=\"Teachers Union Tells Teachers to Ignore Florida Law Banning Transgender Propaganda in Schools\">federal law trumps<\/a> the state&#8217;s restrictions, besides a \u2064court order for immediate compliance\u2063 with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-attack-justice-while-manchin-challenger-fends-off-lawsuit-about-disclosing-records\/\" title=\"Democrats criticize Justice; Manchin's challenger faces lawsuit over record disclosure.\">record disclosure<\/a>\u2062 and future assurances for uninterrupted access to similar records.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Public\u200d access to these records is not a discretionary option but a federal right,&#8221; PILF \u200dPresident J. Christian Adams <a href=\"https:\/\/publicinterestlegal.org\/press\/pilf-sues-south-carolina-for-violating-the-national-voter-registration-act\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">emphasized<\/a>. &#8220;Geographic location is irrelevant; from local \u2062towns to metropolitan hubs, \u200cthese records must be transparent.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>PILF&#8217;s stance\u2063 isn&#8217;t without precedent, as their relentless advocacy \u200dhas previously resulted in successful data disclosures from states like Maine, Illinois, and Maryland.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>Shawn Fleetwood&#8217;s journalistic contributions can be seen through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/glenn-greenwald-explains-how-multiple-media-outlets-can-independently-confirm-false-information\/\" title=\"Glenn Greenwald Explains How Multiple Media Outlets Can \u2018Independently Confirm\u2019 False Information\">multiple media outlets<\/a>. As a staff writer for The Federalist, Fleetwood&#8217;s work reflects his expertise \u2064acquired from the University of Mary Washington and his previous role with Convention of States Action. Follow his insights\u200d on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-image data-amount=\"5\">\n<h2>Popular Reads<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\">Article One<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\">Article Two<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\">Article Three<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\">Article Four<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\">Article Five<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lawsuit Accuses South Carolina of Federal Violation Over Voter Data Secrecy. The Public Interest Legal Foundation asserts in court that non-disclosure by the state&#8217;s Election Commission breaks national law<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2202023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pexels-photo-8846783.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2202022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/pexels-photo-8846783.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2202022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2202023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2202022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2202022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2202022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}