The Constitution ensures the right to vote, including the right to cast an effective ballot. But for years the South Carolina State Election Commission (SEC) has maintained an obsolete, unsecured voting system that failed to ensure that South Carolinians’ votes were counted accurately.

In July 2018, South Carolina businessman Frank Heindel and former state Senator Phil Leventis filed a lawsuit against the commissioners and executive director of the SEC demanding that they protect the voters of South Carolina by ensuring that all votes are recorded and counted accurately. The lawsuit claimed that South Carolina’s paperless iVotronic voting system undermined South Carolinians’ right to vote in violation of the U.S. Constitution, and asked the court to order the SEC to address voting system deficiencies promptly.

The plaintiffs were represented in the District Court by Protect Democracy, Nexsen Pruet, and Kramer Levin.

Press inquiries: press@protectdemocracy.org

District Court

• Complaint (filed July 10, 2018)
• Exhibits (filed July 10, 2018)
• Motion to dismiss opposition brief (filed Aug. 28, 2018)
• Motion to dismiss ruling (Feb. 8, 2019)

Appeal

• Brief for plaintiffs-appellants (filed Apr. 8, 2019)
• Amicus briefs
  • Brief of election security experts (filed Apr. 15, 2019)
  • Brief of national security professionals (filed Apr. 15, 2019)
  • Brief of election officials (filed Apr. 15, 2019)
• Brief for defendants-appellees (filed May 7, 2019)
• Plaintiff-appellants reply brief (filed May 28, 2019)

• Adam Benson, State preparing for switch to paper ballot voting, Index-Journal (June 13, 2019)

• Tony Shaffer, New Report Highlights Urgent Need to Replace SC Voting System, FitsNews (Apr. 17, 2019)

• John Monk, Federal judge mulls request to intervene in SC’s decision to buy voting machines, Greenville News (Jan. 15, 2019)

• Sarah Ellis and Hannah Smoot, Old voting machines blamed for some Election Day problems. Will SC replace them?, The State (Nov. 9, 2018)

• Bristow Marchant, Court ruling could change how SC votes. Will it stop elections from being hacked?, The State (Sept. 24, 2018)

• Ashleigh Holland, Proposal to pay $50 million for better voting machines at SC polls, WIS-TV (Aug. 27, 2018)

• Emma Dumain, South Carolina needs money to protect elections. Its senators aren’t helping., McClatchy (Aug. 24, 2018)

• Andy Brack, S.C. should buy new voting machines now, Statehouse Report (Aug. 24, 2018)

• Bristow Marchant, Is SC prepared for the 2018 election to be hacked?, The State (Aug. 20, 2018)

• Aging voting system threatens election security in South Carolina, WYFF 4 Greenville (Aug. 6, 2018)

• Julia Manchester, House Intel chair calls for ban on electronic voting systems, The Hill (July 26, 2018)

• WYFF 4 Investigates: Is your vote safe?, WYFF 4 Greenville (July 18, 2018)

• Former State Lawmakers Sue over Election Security, Fox Charleston (July 12, 2018)

• Ashleigh Holland, Lawsuit over SC voting machines, WIS TV 10 Columbia (July 11, 2018)

• Angela Rogers, Thousands of voting machines are susceptible to hackers and are unreliable, lawsuit claims, ABC Columbia  (July 11, 2018)

• Sharrone Hayes, Lawsuit says South Carolina voting machines outdated, subject to hacking, WACH FOX 57  (July 11, 2018)

• David Weissman, Are Horry County elections vulnerable to hackers? Lawsuit against state says yes, Sun News (July 11, 2018)

• Christine Condon, Federal push to update voting machines like South Carolina’s is heating up, The State (July 11, 2018)

• Lawsuit: South Carolina voting system vulnerable to hacking, Associated Press (July 11, 2018)

• John Monk, SC’s 13,000 voting machines unreliable, vulnerable to hackers, lawsuit alleges, The State (July 10, 2018)