Elections Need Transparency

As we get closer to 2024 Election Day—or voting season since now so many states allow weeks of early voting—election security has become a hot topic again.

This week, I was in federal court fighting to bring transparency to South Carolina’s elections.

The most important thing election officials can do to restore confidence in our election process is to be transparent. When officials block observers from witnessing the process and try to hide errors in election administration, it sows distrust. We saw this time and time again in 2020.

The old saying, “Sunlight is the best disinfectant,” is true. Unfortunately, South Carolina election officials don’t agree.

The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), of which I am President, was denied a copy of the statewide voter roll. The South Carolina Elections Commission’s reasoning was that state law prohibits out-of-state people or organizations from purchasing it.

First, let’s start with why this matters. The voter roll is an important election integrity document that tells election officials who is eligible to vote.

It is essential that states have accurate and up-to-date voter rolls. This includes removing individuals who have either moved away, passed away, or have duplicate registrations. Many states across the country are failing to do voter list maintenance, which is required by federal law. For example, there is a federal lawsuit against Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson for failing to remove more than 25,000 deceased registrants.

Because of South Carolina election officials’ refusal to provide a copy of the statewide voter roll, PILF and other out-of-state election integrity watchdog groups cannot conduct a similar analysis to determine errors on South Carolina’s voter roll.

Voter roll accuracy is an important metric for determining how secure a state’s elections are.

When people pass away and remain on the voter rolls, it is a problem. That means election officials believe these individuals are still eligible to vote. Some people will take advantage of these vulnerabilities in the electoral process and cast ballots for these deceased individuals.

Not only is transparency important for confidence in elections but it is also required by federal law.

In 1993, Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act, more commonly known as Motor Voter. This is the law that requires the government to offer you voter registration when you go to renew your driver’s license.

This law also requires states to make available “all records concerning the implementation of programs and activities, conducted for the purpose of ensuring the accuracy and currency of official lists of eligible voters.”

Multiple courts, including the First Circuit Court of Appeals, have interpreted that this provision means the public has a right to inspect states’ voter rolls. South Carolina cannot add additional requirements, like residency, to impede the public’s right to obtain election documents.

Now, the federal court in South Carolina has agreed with this precedent. The court ruled that South Carolina must release the voter roll. This victory will allow the public to hold election officials accountable for their mistakes and increase confidence in elections.

It isn’t too late to restore trust in our election process. It just takes transparency.

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J. Christian Adams is the President of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, a former Justice Department attorney, and current commissioner on the United States Commission for Civil Rights.