COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD)- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its South Carolina chapter are suing the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (SCDMV), alleging that the agency denied thousands of young voters the opportunity to register to vote for the upcoming election. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Richland County, asks the court to order […]
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD)- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its South Carolina chapter are suing the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (SCDMV), alleging that the agency denied thousands of young voters the opportunity to register to vote for the upcoming election.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Richland County, asks the court to order the South Carolina Election Commission — also named in the complaint — to add the excluded voters to the state’s voter rolls.
The organization said the issue was brought to its attention after State Rep. Spencer Wetmore (D-Charleston) reported that one of her constituents tried and failed to register at the DMV.
“The ACLU-SC and the ACLU legal team reached out last week to the SCDMV and SEC seeking more information,” an Oct. 22 news release stated. “Initial reports based on queries of an SCDMV database indicate that the failure to register was not an isolated problem, and the SCDMV was not notifying applicants that their attempts to register had failed.”
A spokesperson for the State Election Commission told News 2 last week that the SCDMV system is not able to send applications automatically to the election office for individuals who are not yet 18 at the time the application is completed.
“The DMV’s system has security measures in place to basically ensure that it’s not sending applications for voters they know to be ineligible or believe to be ineligible,” John-Michael Catalano explained.
He added that while DMV employees are trained to inform individuals within that age group that the registration application will not go through the state election office and to use an alternate method, some prospective voters may not have been notified.
The ACLU argues this violates the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the “Motor Voter” law, which requires certain government agencies that provide public assistance to offer voter registration services.
“SCDMV’s unlawful screening of voter registration applications denies individuals the opportunity to cure their registration because it does not always provide notice that the voter’s application is not being processed or transmitted to SEC,” the complaint reads.
The organization claims that in the last 13 months, more than 17,000 South Carolinians who were 17 years old at the time that they attempted to register but will be 18 by Election Day were impacted.
An SCDMV spokesperson would not verify whether that number was accurate when reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.
“The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles is aware of the concerns raised in the ACLU lawsuit,” said spokesperson Mike Fitts. “The agency is working with the State Election Commission on possible ways to remedy the issue.”
Meanwhile, the SCDMV and ACLU are urging people to double-check their voter registration before heading to the polls.
There is also a process by which teenagers who indicated on their DMV form that they wished to register but the application was not received can still vote on Election Day.
Election officials can verify with SCDMV representatives that the appropriate form was completed when the person received services. If the person is deemed qualified, then they will be allowed to vote.
“There is a system and a procedure in place to ensure that someone is not losing access to the ballot box because of this system issue at the DMV,” Catalano previously told News 2.
Read the full complaint: