by Kiki Gushue
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The deputy executive director of the South Carolina State Election Commission has been fired following an internal investigation, as state police continue to probe allegations of wiretapping inside the agency.
The commission confirmed last week it voted to remove Executive Director Howard Knapp, effective immediately, citing a desire for “new leadership.” Officials said the decision was unrelated to the conduct of any election. Chief of Staff Jenny Wooten has been appointed interim executive director.
At the same time, Deputy Executive Director Paige Salonich was terminated after being suspended during an internal investigation. According to her termination letter, Salonich admitted to placing a voice-activated recorder in the commission’s training room, which is where the body holds its monthly meetings.
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Lynn Teague, vice president for issues and action with the League of Women Voters of South Carolina, said the agency still has the staff and resources to conduct secure elections despite the departures.
“One thing we need to look at with the current situation that people are very concerned about—legitimately so—is that while the director and assistant director of the state election commission are gone, there's a very large, very professional staff left at the state election commission to make sure that the upcoming elections get all the help and support that they need,” Teague said.
Teague added that voters should not be worried. “I see no reason whatsoever for panic about the election or even serious concern about how the election's going to be run. If anything goes wrong, it will be the normal human glitches… voters I think will see no impact whatsoever from what's going on directly.”
The U.S. Department of Justice is also in a legal dispute with the commission over a request for voter data, including driver’s license information. A hearing in that case is scheduled for Friday.
It is not known whether the recorder incident and leadership shakeup are connected to that federal case.
Watch the interview with Lynn Teague at the link above.
