The head of the South Carolina Election Commission was removed from his role after a vote by the agency’s governing body on Wednesday.
Howard Knapp was dismissed as executive director with immediate effect, as the board expressed a “desire for new leadership,” according to Chairman Dennis Shedd’s statement.
“The decision was unrelated to the conduct of any election in South Carolina,” Shedd’s statement continued.
Chief of Staff Jenny Wooten was appointed to serve as interim director.
This decision comes amid pressure from the Justice Department for the commission to disclose voter rolls, which include sensitive information like driver’s license and Social Security numbers.
A Calhoun County woman sued to stop the release in early September, citing concerns about her privacy.
Initially, a Circuit Court judge prevented the agency from sharing the data concerning the state’s roughly 3.3 million registered voters, but this decision was later overturned by the state Supreme Court.
Knapp was named as the state’s chief election official in January 2022 and confirmed by the Senate in March 2023.
Knapp is also under investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for alleged misconduct, a probe that began in March 2024 at the behest of the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office, as confirmed by a SLED spokesperson.
Statehouse reporter Caroline Yaffa contributed to this story.
