In a landmark ruling, a federal judge in South Carolina has declared that voter rolls are public records and must be made available for inspection by election integrity advocates, a decision that could set a precedent nationwide.
The ruling, issued by Judge Joseph F. Anderson Jr. of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, came in response to a lawsuit filed by the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to election integrity.
PILF sought access to the South Carolina Statewide Voter Registration List under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993, which mandates that states maintain accurate voter rolls and make records available for public inspection.
The SEC initially denied the request.
The SEC argued that South Carolina law only permitted access to these records by qualified electors of the state, not by out-of-state organizations like PILF.
However, Judge Anderson ruled that the NVRA’s requirements take precedence over state law, determining that South Carolina’s restrictions were preempted by federal law.
The judge emphasized that Section 8 of the NVRA clearly mandates the public availability of voter registration records to ensure the integrity of the electoral process and to maintain accurate and current voter rolls.
According to the ruling reviewed by The Gateway Pundit:
Congress expressly stated that the NVRA has four purposes: to “establish procedures that will increase the number of eligible citizens who register to vote in elections for Federal office”; to “enhance the participation of eligible citizens as voters in elections for Federal office”; to “protect the integrity of the electoral process”; and to “ensure that accurate and current voter registration rolls are maintained.”
Section 8(i) of the NVRA provides for the disclosure of voter registrations in order to “assist the identification of both error and fraud in the preparation and maintenance of voter rolls.”
But S.C. Code Ann. § 7-3-20(D)(13) limits that disclosure to South Carolina voters, thereby excluding organizations and citizens of other states from identifying error and fraud.
South Carolina’s prohibition on distribution of the SVRL to only eligible South Carolina voters conflicts with the NVRA’s mandate that all records concerning maintenance and accuracy activities be made available for “public inspection.”
Because adherence to South Carolina law would frustrate the application of the federal mandate, the state law must yield.
PILF now has the ability to access South Carolina’s statewide voter registration list following this ruling.
Read the ruling below:
