Judge Rejects Request to Block South Carolina's Voter Registration Data from Going to DOJ
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Today, a South Carolina Circuit Court Judge issued a ruling rejecting a request to block the SC State Election Commission (SCEC) from sharing voter registration data with the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division.
Judge Coble’s decision clears the path for the state to ensure compliance with federal election integrity standards by allowing federal officials to assist in reviewing and helping clean the state’s voter rolls for ineligible registrations—such as noncitizens, and duplicate or outdated registrants.
Circuit Court Judge Daniel Coble denied a temporary injunction on behalf of retired Calhoun County school teacher and voter Anne Crook, who sued to keep the personal information of the state’s more than 3.3 million registered voters from being released to the DOJ.
The ruling affirms that the SC state constitution’s “right to privacy” does not cover the sharing of data between state and federal authorities to secure elections. Federal law requires the SCEC to provide the requested information, and the SCEC has authority under state law to share the data.
Judge Coble addressed privacy concerns saying, “This Court does not believe there would be an unreasonable invasion of privacy for the Election Commission to turn over its data to the DOJ.”
The judge noted that most requested data (e.g., names, addresses) is already publicly accessible, and prior interstate agreements for voter data sharing demonstrate it’s a standard practice for maintaining accurate rolls.
Starting in July 2025, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, led by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, requested comprehensive voter registration data from SC, including full names, dates of birth, residential addresses, driver’s license numbers, and the last four digits of Social Security numbers for the state’s 3.3 million registered voters.
The purpose of the DOJ request is to review and cross-reference state voter records to comply with President Trump’s March 25 E.O., PRESERVING AND PROTECTING THE INTEGRITY OF AMERICAN ELECTIONS, to ensure clean voter rolls and identify and remove non-citizens from the rolls.
This ruling also affirms Sept 26, 2025 DOJ lawsuits against six states (California, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania) for refusing similar requests, alleging National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) violations.
According to the lawsuits, the AG is uniquely charged by Congress with enforcing the NVRA and HAVA, which Congress designed to ensure that states have proper and effective voter registration and voter list maintenance programs. The AG also has the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (CRA) to demand the production, inspection, and analysis of the statewide voter registration lists.
South Carolina’s compliance contrasts with resistant “blue” controlled states like Washington State.
Also, Sept 16, 2025, the DOJ sued Oregon and Maine for failing to provide information regarding voter list maintenance procedures and electronic copies of statewide voter registration lists.
Sept 8, 2025, the DOJ sent a letter to WA State SoS Steve Hobbs, requesting a “complete” copy of the state’s voter registration database within 14 days. Like the aforementioned other states, the request included personal data for each registered voter: full name, date of birth, residential address, driver’s license number, or the last four digits of their Social Security number.
As expected, Hobbs has refused to comply with the DOJ request, leading many to believe that the DOJ may soon sue WA State and SoS Hobbs.
Thank you to Judge Coble. Instead of trying to hide election records, these states should be partnering with the DOJ to ensure their states’ voter rolls are clean, updated, and accurate. We are living in consequential times, and refusing to be transparent with the federal government only leads to more doubt, more litigation, and more voter distrust in the election systems.
Bill Bruch
Bill Bruch is the WA State GOP Election Integrity Committee Chairman (5th year), WAGOP Executive Board Member (5th Year), Skagit County GOP Chairman (9th year), Citizen Journalist, Olympic Conference 2021 Activist of the Year Award Winner, Business Owner, 2020 WA State House Representative Candidate, Former Council Member, and WA State 2016 and 2024 RNC National Convention Delegate.