ACLU-SC v. State Election Commission (FOIA)

The ACLU of South Carolina sued to demand transparency around the 2025 firing of the state’s top election official.

On September 17, 2025, members of the State Election Commission voted 3-2 to remove then-Executive Director Howard Knapp. They held a hearing and deliberated behind closed doors without a proper public explanation, violating South Carolina’s public meeting and public record laws in the process.

These secretive proceedings took place during a time of chaos and uncertainty in the state election agency following the U.S. Department of Justice’s unprecedented demand for access to the state’s unredacted voter registration list. Knapp had resisted the demand.

The lawsuit asks the court to order the SEC to disclose all documents, recordings, and other materials pertaining to an executive session where Knapp’s firing was being debated.

The South Carolina Freedom of Information Act states that it is “vital in a democratic society that public business be performed in an open and public manner.” The lawsuit seeks to uphold the letter and spirit of that law.

The ACLU of South Carolina has found that commissioners of the SEC failed to give proper notice before holding a closed-door executive session, conducted an adversary hearing regarding Knapp without permitting him to demand it be conducted publicly, contacted fellow commissioners individually to lobby for the director’s removal, and polled commission members in secret during the executive session.

The ACLU-SC filed suit on Sept. 17, 2026, and asked a Richland County judge to set a hearing within 10 days.