A State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigation conducted at the request of S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster has determined that state employees who were accused of inappropriately providing non-citizens with voter registration forms committed no wrongdoing. The allegation that led to multiple reports of threats against South Carolina election officials.
“The results of the preliminary investigation revealed that any voter registration forms that were given to non-citizens were in compliance with federal law,” SLED concluded in its final report, released May 16. “The forms instruct non-citizens not to fill out the form, (and) the Legislative Audit Council found no cases of non-citizens voting in state elections.”
The initial accusation was leveled by S.C. Rep. Adam Morgan, a leader of the avowedly far-right House Freedom Caucus which has been at odds with mainstream conservative Republicans since its formation in 2021.
Morgan, who is challenging Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. William TImmons in the 4th District primary, responded to news of SLED’s findings by trading Twitter barbs with Timmons, who said Morgan had been “caught in a lie” by the investigation.
“My ‘Republican’ opponent is FINE that voter registration forms are being sent to non-citizens in his district,” Morgan fired back. “I will work in Congress to STOP the government from intentionally distributing voter registration forms to non-citizens. Secure our elections now!”
McMaster issued a statement after the SLED report was released.
“The SLED investigation has confirmed the integrity of South Carolina’s voter registration system, as previous official audits have confirmed,” McMaster said. “Agencies are properly complying with state and federal voter registration laws, and no evidence of unlawful activity was found.”
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