SC congressional candidate’s voter fraud claim unfounded, state investigation shows

GREENVILLE — The state’s top police agency found no merit to allegations made by a Republican congressional candidate that the state’s Medicaid agency committed voter fraud by encouraging refugees to vote. 

In a series of viral social media posts last month, Greenville state lawmaker and congressional candidate Adam Morgan said the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services office gave voter registration forms to a foreign-born refugee in Spartanburg County, encouraging them to illegally register.

“None of this is by accident,” Morgan wrote.

On May 16, the State Law Enforcement Division determined the allegation to be unfounded, saying federal law requires service agencies to provide voter registration forms to anyone applying for benefits.

The form also stresses the application is only for legally eligible residents.

Ryan Alphin, SLED’s executive affairs director, noted in the agency’s preliminary report that the first question on the South Carolina Voter Registration form is also a citizenship question. The form states in bold “DO NOT complete this form” if the person checks “no.”

Morgan, a Republican challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Williams Timmons in the June 11 primary for Greenville’s seat in Congress, told The Post and Courier he was glad the state did not discover wrongdoing but called on the state inspector general to conduct a larger investigation into DHHS.

“I’m looking forward to see what further investigation they’re going to do with it — to see why the agency did it and what they’re going to do to make sure that they stop sending these forms to non-citizens,” he said.

Morgan is chairman the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus in the Statehouse. He has frequently used social media to elevate his campaign over the past several months, creating viral content that attracted national attention from conservative figures like U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk. 

His social media posts about the supposed fraud went viral in April with thousands of likes and shares — despite the state Election Commission saying it had no evidence that people were fraudulently being registered to vote. Morgan and other state Freedom Caucus lawmakers called for an investigation in the hours that followed. 

Gov. Henry McMaster, who asked SLED to verify Morgan’s claim, said the inquiry confirmed the integrity of South Carolina’s voting system. 

“Agencies are properly complying with state and federal voter registration laws, and no evidence of unlawful activity was found,” McMaster said in a statement. “In addition, the SLED report highlights that the citizenship verification policies and procedures being followed by state election officials are designed to prevent non-citizens from becoming eligible to vote.”

A leading civil rights group in the state welcomed the results while questioning the motivation that led to the investigation. 

“Again and again, people who despise democracy try to convince us that voter fraud is rampant in South Carolina,” the ACLU of South Carolina posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Again and again, it turns out they’re lying.”

While the refugee declined to speak with SLED agents, the officers interviewed the person’s sister, Natalya Camp, in Spartanburg on May 7 and noted  the registration form they received had the citizenship question on it, according to the report. 

SLED also interviewed Robert Kerr, director of South Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services, who confirmed the agency is required to send out the forms under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

The agency is required to give mail application voter registration information to anyone who applies for public assistance but it does not determine voter eligibility, Kerr said. The department then forwards voter registration forms to the South Carolina Election Commission, which uses a database to ensure only U.S. citizens are included on the active list of registered voters.

The state election commission’s public information officer John Catalono also spoke with SLED May 9 and said an independent audit from the South Carolina Legislative Audit Council found no incidents where non-U.S. citizens with state IDs or driver’s licenses had voted, according to the report.

“We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the governor’s office and to law enforcement for taking this matter seriously,” Howie Knapp, executive director of the SEC, said in a statement. “SLED’s report reaffirms that the systems and processes that we have in place prevent fraudulent registration from happening in South Carolina. Election officials will continue to follow the law to ensure the integrity of our election infrastructure is upheld.”

Election and voter registration information can be found at scVOTES.gov or at the county voter registration office.