South Carolina Election Commission Reaches Agreement with DOJ Over Voter Data Dispute
Why It Matters
South Carolina has resolved a year-long standoff over voter data privacy, with the state’s election commission reaching an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice that election integrity advocates say offers stronger protections than deals struck by other states. The outcome of the dispute could serve as a model for how states navigate federal voter data requests tied to President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting non-citizen voter registration.
The resolution carries significant implications for the Palmetto State’s political landscape, where the battle over voter data drew in legislators, courts, and party leadership on both sides.
What Happened
The South Carolina State Election Commission — known as SCVotes — has reportedly entered into an agreement with the DOJ to release the state’s voter database in a protected format. The agency’s governing commission was set to formally announce the agreement and its general terms at a scheduled meeting on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, with data delivery to the federal government expected no later than Friday, May 1, 2026.
The deal was reportedly spearheaded by former SCVotes chairman Dennis Shedd, a former federal judge who stepped down from the post earlier this year. Shedd took a firm stance early in negotiations, arguing that commissioners had a duty to protect the privacy of voter data. That position reportedly led the DOJ to modify its initial proposed memorandum of understanding — something the agency had initially said it would not do.
Under the terms of the agreement, South Carolina will share its voter data through a process called “hashing” — a method that transforms data into fixed-length strings of letters and numbers that cannot be reversed or decoded. Officials described hashing as more secure than standard encryption, allowing both parties to verify that files have not been tampered with while still satisfying the federal mandate.
By the Numbers
3.3 million — the number of registered voters whose data the DOJ originally sought from South Carolina, including names, addresses, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and partial Social Security digits.
March 25, 2025 — the date President Trump signed the executive order targeting non-citizen voter registration that triggered the federal data request.
March 2025 — when the Trump administration first formally requested the voter data from South Carolina.
6 months — the approximate length of time negotiations dragged on after the South Carolina Supreme Court cleared the way for the state to release the data.
2 — the number of top SCVotes appointed officials terminated last fall who were subsequently arrested on criminal charges, adding institutional turbulence to the agency during the dispute.
Zoom Out
South Carolina’s voter data battle is part of a broader national effort by the Trump administration to verify the integrity of voter rolls across the country. The March 2025 executive order directed federal agencies to work with states to identify non-citizen registrations — a key election integrity priority for the administration.
While some states moved quickly to comply with federal requests, others faced legal challenges or political resistance. South Carolina’s use of hashing technology to protect sensitive identifiers may offer a template for states seeking to balance federal compliance with voter privacy protections. As the South Carolina governor’s race heats up ahead of future election cycles, the handling of this dispute is likely to remain a talking point for candidates on both sides of the aisle.
Governor Henry McMaster and other ranking Republicans had urged the state to comply with Trump’s request. Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto filed a lawsuit that initially blocked the release, winning a temporary court order — before the South Carolina Supreme Court intervened and struck down the lower court ruling, clearing the legal path for the state to proceed.
What’s Next
Following the formal commission meeting, SCVotes is expected to transmit the hashed voter data to federal authorities by May 1, 2026. Several GOP legislative leaders who had previously pushed back against the federal request have reportedly agreed, albeit reluctantly, to the terms of the data deal.
Officials and observers will be watching closely to see whether the hashing methodology satisfies DOJ requirements under Trump’s executive order — and whether South Carolina’s approach influences how other states handle similar federal data demands going forward.