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BRIEFS: GOP’s McKissick criticized; Street is new correspondent

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S.C. GOP chair criticized over voter files

Staff reports  |  New S.C. GOP Chairman Drew McKissick is getting roundly criticized for cavalierly saying he would turn over voter information that a seemingly partisan presidential commission wants after the S.C. Election Commission said it wouldn’t turn over the info.  Some 44 states have reportedly refused to hand over the information.

McKissick

“Turning over personal and private data on S.C. voters to a radical administration is a pathetic move that would be unacceptable in a banana republic and is borderline treasonous in the world’s great democracy,” said Brady Quirk-Garvan, chairman of the Charleston County Democratic Party.

On Thursday, the state Election Commission said it wouldn’t accede to a request by the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity to turn over the names, dates of birth, party affiliation, voter history, felony convictions and the last four digits of voters’ Social Security numbers.  The commission said it was against the law to share the information outside of South Carolina, adding that voters in the state don’t register by party affiliation.

But McKissick saw a work-around for his party.  He said he’d buy the information, routinely available for non-commercial (i.e., political) purposes, for $2,500, and give it to the feds.  He posted two tweets yesterday:

“As a SC resident & voter, I’m purchasing voter data from @scvotes for review by Pres. Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.  It is a critical function of self-government for voters to have confidence in the integrity of our voting process.”

Quirk-Garvan

Quirk-Garvan said McKissick was turning the whole mess into a “political circus.”  McKissick offered a tweet late Thursday welcoming his new Twitter followers “courtesy of today’s ‘attention’ from our liberal friends.”

So this begs two questions:

  1. Not so personal.  Since the information has been available for years inside the state, is it really that personal and private?  It’s already in databases around the state, indicating that the Election Commission’s own rules don’t allow voter information to remain that secret inside South Carolina’s border.
  2. Charges? But since it is against the law to use the information outside of the state, would McKissick be violating the law to share the information with the feds?  If so, is he going to be charged with breaking the law if he does share the info?

Street joins Statehouse Report as new correspondent

Please welcome Lindsay Street as Statehouse Report’s new correspondent.

Street

She has served as a reporter and editor at various publications over the last few years, including the Berkeley Independent, Patch, S.C. Radio Network and Carteret County (N.C.) News-Times.

Since last October, Street has offered several compelling stories published in Statehouse Report:

Street earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and media studies from the College of Charleston in 2006.  She and her family live in Ridgeville.

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