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ACLU says South Carolina hid the firing of its elections chief

Columbia, South CarolinaPublished 26 Sep 2026

The Richland County Justice Center in Columbia, where the ACLU filed its open-meetings suit.
The Richland County Justice Center in Columbia, where the ACLU filed its open-meetings suit.

Billy Hathorn / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

The ACLU of South Carolina asked a Richland County judge to declare that the State Election Commission broke the open-meetings law when it removed Howard Knapp in a closed session.

The ACLU of South Carolina sued the State Election Commission in Richland County, alleging the board violated the Freedom of Information Act when it fired executive director Howard Knapp on Sept. 17, 2025, after a closed session. The suit says then-chairman Dennis Shedd lobbied colleagues one by one, the board polled itself in private, and Knapp was denied a public hearing. Knapp and deputy Paige Salonich were later arrested; the ACLU ties the ouster to Knapp’s resistance to a Justice Department demand for the state’s voter file, which the commission later turned over.

Shared facts

The ACLU of South Carolina alleges the State Election Commission broke the open-meetings law when it fired director Howard Knapp behind closed doors.

The ACLU sued the commission in a Richland County court.

The ACLU sued the State Election Commission on Sept. 17.

The State Election Commission fired Howard Knapp in September 2025.

The commission voted 3-2 to remove Knapp.

Commissioners discussed the firing in a closed session.

The closed session lasted several hours, nearly five.

The vote to remove Knapp was taken in public.

The ACLU says the commission did not give a specific enough public reason for the closed session.

The ACLU says Knapp was not given a chance to demand that his firing be heard in public.

The ACLU says the board polled members on Knapp’s removal in the closed session before the public vote.

The ACLU says then-chairman Dennis Shedd contacted other commissioners and urged them to remove Knapp.

The ACLU says the closed meeting included questioning of several witnesses.

The ACLU says the commission went to extraordinary lengths to keep the session from the public.

The lawsuit does not include the evidence for those claims.

Allen Chaney said the commission removed South Carolina’s top election official after a secret trial, secret deliberations, and a secret vote.

Chaney said the ACLU is going to court because the Freedom of Information Act requires more transparency.

The ACLU wants a judge to order release of records from the closed session and to declare that the commission broke the law.

The Election Commission said it does not comment on pending litigation.

The U.S. Justice Department sought personal data on South Carolina voters, including names, addresses, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and Social Security digits.

The request covered about 3.3 million registered voters.

A lower court temporarily blocked the state from releasing the voter file.

The South Carolina Supreme Court set aside that pause and cleared the way for the transfer.

The Election Commission later turned the voter data over to the Justice Department.

The ACLU says Knapp resisted the federal demand for South Carolina voter data.

The ACLU says Knapp’s resistance provoked President Trump’s allies in South Carolina and that the firing was retaliation for opposing Trump.

SLED was investigating Howard Knapp for alleged misconduct before the commission fired him.

Knapp was arrested in October 2025, about a month after he was fired.

Knapp was charged with embezzlement and misconduct in office.

The vehicle charges cover eight months of alleged personal use of state vehicles and a fuel card, starting in 2023.

Deputy director Paige Salonich was fired about a week after Knapp.

Salonich was arrested the same day as Knapp and charged with wiretapping after a recording device was left in the commission’s meeting room.

The Attorney General’s office is prosecuting the cases, which are still pending.

Dennis Shedd resigned from the commission in January.

The commission is a five-member board appointed by the governor.

Disputed facts

Sources disagree on whether the commission gave a reason when it fired Knapp.

Shared opinions

Joe McCulloch said the charges against Knapp are political.

SC Daily Gazette

SC Election Commission violated open meetings law, ACLU alleges

Jessica Holdman

Published 21 Sep 2026 accessed 26 Sep 2026

Facts

Dennis Shedd met Oct. 15 at the Columbia elections office with commissioners Scott Moseley, Clifford Edler, and JoAnne Day.

South Carolina law says a chance meeting, social meeting, or electronic communication may not be used to circumvent a public meeting.

State law says a public body may not commit itself by polling members in executive session.

Knapp’s firing came during a lawsuit that tried to stop the commission from giving voter data to the Justice Department over privacy concerns.

Shedd said the decision was unrelated to the conduct of any election in South Carolina.

The ACLU said Shedd, in phone calls with other members, accused Knapp of colluding with lawyers trying to block the voter-file release.

Shedd said the commission’s leadership and staff remain dedicated to accurate, secure, and accessible elections.

The ACLU’s filings say Shedd also tried similar methods to oust Knapp in early 2024.

Knapp faces 11 charges brought by the Attorney General’s office.

Eight counts charge Knapp with using his office for financial gain, one for each month of alleged personal travel and a public fuel card.

The ACLU’s filing does not say how the group learned about those phone calls.

Knapp is also charged with embezzlement under $10,000 for the fuel, misconduct in office, and accessory after the fact.

The ACLU did not answer the SC Daily Gazette’s questions about the calls or the poll.

State law says an employee has the right to demand that a hearing be public instead of in executive session.

The ACLU claims that if Knapp had been asked, he would have demanded a public hearing.

McCulloch said he looks forward to a very public trial.

Joe McCulloch did not immediately respond to the SC Daily Gazette.

The filing does not say how the ACLU knew Knapp would have demanded a public hearing.

Opinion

No opinion marked.

The Post and Courier

Former SC elections director fired after improper private process, ACLU alleges in lawsuit

Ian Grenier

Published 22 Sep 2026 accessed 26 Sep 2026

Facts

A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 28 at the Richland County courthouse, though Allen Chaney said the date could be pushed back.

Chaney said the ACLU is suing over FOIA compliance, not over the decision to fire the director.

In October, Shedd publicly accused Knapp of a hostile workplace and of falsifying voting-machine financial documents.

Knapp’s lawyer, Joe McCulloch, disputed those accusations.

A later inspector general report found problems in how the state treasurer’s office handled the purchasing.

McCulloch said he and prosecutors were closing in on some evidence issues but no trial date is set.

Salonich still has a lawsuit accusing the commission of leaking private information about her to the press.

Joe McCulloch had not read the ACLU’s lawsuit.

Opinion

Chaney said decisions about election officials should be made in public so people can scrutinize them.

FITSNews

ACLU Sues SCVotes

Will Folks

Published 18 Sep 2026 accessed 26 Sep 2026

Facts

The Justice Department called that data essential to enforcing Trump’s March 25, 2025 order on non-citizen voter registration.

Knapp and Salonich have both been criminally charged over their conduct at the commission.

The charges include an allegedly illegal wiretap of an executive session convened by Dennis Shedd.

That deal came about seven months after Knapp and Salonich were fired.

Talks with federal officials then dragged on about six months, and some GOP legislative leaders opposed the request.

Wilson’s office says video shows Salonich placing the device in the room.

Knapp is accused of trying to retrieve that device.

The ACLU and Joe McCulloch described the session as an unlawful and secretive hearing.

The complaint also asks the court to order the commission to pay the ACLU’s attorney fees.

Opinion

FITSNews said the ACLU portrays Knapp and Salonich as martyrs for electoral integrity.

FITSNews said the criminal and civil record shows Knapp and Salonich were not fired over Trump, the Justice Department, or the voter lists.

FITSNews said they were fired over credible allegations of wasted tax dollars, fabricated public records, and dishonest dealings.

FITSNews said the lawsuit tries to rewrite history and cast Knapp and Salonich as principled defenders of the state’s elections.

The State

Chaotic firing of SC election official violated open meeting law, ACLU suit alleges

Lucy Valeski

Published 19 Sep 2026 accessed 26 Sep 2026

Facts

The lawsuit says the agenda also said the commission would discuss personnel matters in private.

Chaney said the words “personnel matters” are too vague to meet FOIA’s specific-purpose rule.

The Sept. 2025 agenda listed minutes, new business, an accountability report, the budget, voter outreach, municipal elections, and a Justice Department data request.

After Knapp’s ouster, longtime election administrator Conway Belangia was hired to lead the agency.

Linda McCall resigned days after Knapp’s removal, writing McMaster that she was leaving in part because of what happened with the ouster.

Gov. Henry McMaster appointed attorney Robert Bolchoz to chair the commission.

The Election Commission changed leaders over the past year.

Opinion

Allen Chaney said no FOIA violation is trivial when a decision this serious is made without public scrutiny.

WIS News 10

Lawsuit: SC Election Commission broke law when firing former executive director

WIS News 10 Staff

Published 22 Sep 2026 accessed 26 Sep 2026

Facts

No unique facts.

Opinion

No opinion marked.