League of Women Voters ^®
of South Carolina

WIS 10 TV

The deputy executive director for the South Carolina Elections Commission has been fired amid an ongoing SLED investigation. Her termination comes after former Executive Director of the South Carolina Elections Commission, Howard Knapp, was also fired on Sept. 17. Lynn Teague, LWVSC VP, Issues & Action, emphasized that voters should not lose faith in the system. “There are experienced IT specialists, staff working with counties, and people who continue to do their jobs,” she said. “Absolutely no one should panic, and no one should think this will cast doubt on the integrity of our elections.”
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The Post & Courier

State officials are largely remaining silent over the sudden firing of the state’s top election official less than two months before towns and cities across the state head to the polls Nov. 4. "Our impression has been that the state election commission has operated as it was intended to: as largely independent of political interest,” said Lynn Teague, LWVSC Vice President, Issues & Action..“That’s not without exception, but on the whole we believe that it has been managed well,” she added. “So we are especially puzzled by the sudden development of the firing of the director.”

SC Daily Gazette

The state Supreme Court upheld South Carolina’s congressional voting lines Wednesday by ruling there’s nothing unconstitutional about partisan gerrymandering. In response, the League of Women Voters said the ruling presents a contradiction: It indicates only the Legislature can address partisan gerrymandering, and that’s the same body responsible for the problem.

The South Carolina Supreme Court has dismissed a legal case brought by the League of Women Voters of South Carolina (LWVSC) that challenged the practice of partisan gerrymandering. By opining that the case presented a “nonjusticiable political question,” the court indicated that the problem of partisan gerrymandering can only be addressed by the state legislature — the same body that gerrymandered the Congressional district map in the first place.

“The LWVSC is disappointed that the South Carolina judiciary has held itself unable to protect the foundations of representative democracy in our state,” said Lynn Teague, LWVSC VP, Issues & Action. “Partisan gerrymandering is an attack on our most fundamental right as citizens, the right to vote. But the LWVSC will not stop fighting for fair redistricting. If a constitutional amendment is needed to protect voters, the people of South Carolina must demand that amendment.”