Court Blocks South Carolina From Giving Voter Data to DOJ After Voter Sues

By Yunior Rivas

Voters fill out their ballots at a polling place, Feb. 29, 2020, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

A South Carolina judge has temporarily blocked the state from giving the U.S. Department of Justice its entire voter database after a voter sued, arguing that releasing such sensitive personal information would violate state law and her constitutional rights.

Judge Diane S. Goodstein of the First Judicial Circuit issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) Tuesday, stopping the South Carolina Election Commission (SCEC) from releasing the data until at least a Sept. 10 hearing in Aiken County. 

The order came in response to a lawsuit filed by Dr. Anne Crook, a registered voter in Calhoun County, after the DOJ demanded the state’s entire statewide voter registration list, including every voter’s full name, date of birth, residential address, driver’s license number and Social Security numbers.

The DOJ gave South Carolina until Sept. 5 to comply. It has been requesting detailed voter data from numerous states as it looks to pressure states to cull voter rolls and hunt for evidence of illegal voting.

Several states have already refused, pointing to state privacy laws and a lack of authority from the department.

In her complaint, Crook warned that once data like Social Security numbers are released, the harm “cannot be undone.”

Crook argued that the release of this data would violate the South Carolina Constitution, citing Article I, Section 10, which guarantees a right to privacy, and state statutes barring agencies from disclosing personal identifying data.

“The release of the personal information data of Plaintiff, as contained in Defendant’s voter registration file, would violate Article 1 Section 10 of the Constitution of South Carolina which guarantees Plaintiff’s right to privacy,” the complaint reads. “A temporary restraining order should be issued here to prevent Defendant from violating the constitutional rights of Plaintiff by allowing an invasion of her privacy and to prevent Defendant from violating the protections guaranteed to Plaintiff by state law that prohibit the release of her personal information data.”