SCVotes Sends Data to Feds

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by WILL FOLKS

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Last week, our media outlet exclusively reported that the South Carolina State Election Commission (SCVotes) had entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding the release of the Palmetto State’s voter database. The long-awaited deal ended a months-long standoff over the sharing of private information (including Social Security numbers) for more than 3.3 million registered voters in the Palmetto State.

The day after our report was filed (April 28, 2026), SCVotes’ commissioners approved the agreement by a 4–1 margin. Commissioner Joanne Day was the lone member who voted against the agreement, stating she had constitutional concerns.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) reached between the state and the feds – first obtained (.pdf) by Alaina Moore of Palmetto State Watch – noted a transfer deadline of May 5, 2026. However, sources familiar with the situation confirmed all relevant information had been transmitted to DOJ last Friday (May 1, 2026).

The data was sent to DOJ officials via a federal encrypted file sharing system, with the most sensitive materials transmitted via “hashing” – a unique digital fingerprint that transforms data into nondescript, fixed-length strings of letters and numbers than cannot be reversed or decoded. This “hashing” process – which is more secure than encryption – allows those sending and receiving the data to verify that the files in question have not been tampered with.

Of interest? According to Moore, SCVotes has previously provided much more information via much less secure channels – including data sent to liberal entities she described as “maintaining dirty voter rolls.”

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Specifically, Moore cited the transfer of files to the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) – a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit which began receiving drivers’ license data and Social Security numbers from the state in 2018. ERIC was founded in 2012 by David Becker, a left-leaning activist whose subsequent nonprofits have been propped up by major progressive donors.

“South Carolina already shares more voter data through more channels than what DOJ is getting here,” Moore noted in a recent report. “ERIC, a nonprofit data-sharing organization of which SC is a member, receives full name, date of birth, residential address, mailing address, both the driver’s license number and the full Social Security Number, voter registration number, county code, registration date, gender, last voted date, voter status, last update to voter record, and email and phone number when available. That data is then accessible to all of their member states and the District of Columbia.”

Oh… and the ERIC data wasn’t sent with the same level of security as the data provided to the feds.

“Why has our state handed ERIC both sensitive identifiers in full who shares that data with third parties and then spent nearly a year fighting the federal government over a hashed copy of four digits?” Moore asked. “The privacy concerns were real, but they were selectively applied.”

Former SCVotes’ spokesman John Catalano – who resigned from the agency last fall following a major scandal with its executive leadership – previously referred to ERIC as a “valuable and currently irreplaceable tool that allows us to remove unqualified voters from the voter registration rolls.”

Several states previously affiliated with ERIC have terminated their memberships with the organization, however. In 2023, Missouri left the group owing to its refusal to address “multi-state voter fraud” and targeted solicitation efforts aimed at individuals who had already “made the conscious decision to not be registered.”

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It is it not immediately clear how new SCVotes’ director Conway Belangia intends to handle the Palmetto State’s membership in ERIC, but efforts within the S.C. General Assembly to end the controversial affiliation have been blocked by uni-party leaders.

Belangia was confirmed by the S.C. Senate last month following extensive legislative meddling in the search process – meddling which rendered the gubernatorial-appointed board chairman a veritable eunuch. He replaces disgraced former executive director Howie Knapp, whose installation was also legislatively orchestrated. To recap: Knapp and his second-in-command, Paige Salonich, were terminated from their positions at SCVotes last fall – and later criminally indicted – as part of an ongoing investigation by the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED). Knapp’s conduct also remains under investigation by the S.C. Office of Inspector General (SCOIG).

In addition to facing a wide range of misconduct allegations, Knapp and Salonich also allegedly engaged in a torrid, taxpayer-subsidized workplace affair as they were running the agency into the ground.

One costly deal entered into by Knapp was a controversial sole-sourced deal with Omaha, Nebraska-based Election Systems & Software (ES&S). This company was the recipient of a controversial $33 million contract for the purchase of approximately 3,000 DS300 scanner/tabulator machines.

That price tag was $8.5 million higher than the original quoted price.

Keep it tuned to FITSNews as we continue to keep our audience apprised of the latest developments at the agency tasked with safeguarding the freedom and fairness of our elections.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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