Nearly 1,900 teens tried unsuccessfully to register to vote, DMV concludes

The South Carolina Republican presidential primary will be held on Saturday, February 24, 2024. Polls open at 7 a.m. for in-person voting. (Kate Brindley | New Hampshire Bulletin)

COLUMBIA — A judge will decide whether 1,896 South Carolina teenagers who tried to register to vote while getting a driver’s license but were turned away by a quirk in the state’s computers will be added to the rolls elections for election day.

According to the state Department of Motor Vehicles, a review of its records identified the exact number of teens affected by its system. Their information was sent to the state election commission Wednesday, DMV spokesman Mike Fitts confirmed to the SC Daily Gazette.

It will be up to the courts to decide whether young people or future 18-year-olds will actually be able to vote in this presidential election.

These teens were not yet old enough to vote when they applied for driver’s licenses, but they could register because they would turn 18 before the Nov. 5 election. Instead, the DMV system flagged them as ineligible because they were too young, so the information was not forwarded to the State Election Commission.

That’s the question at the center of a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union in Richland County. A hearing is scheduled for Friday.

The lawsuit seeks an emergency order to add all affected teens to the voting rolls.

More than 17,000 teenagers were able to register when applying for a permit over the past 13 months. But most of them successfully registered to vote otherwise, Fitts said.

The State Election Commission has yet to do anything with this information.

“We’re waiting for the court’s decision on how to proceed,” John Michael Catalano, a spokesman for the State Election Commission, told the Gazette.

Republicans are fighting the lawsuit.

State Senate President Thomas Alexander and the state Republican Party have filed motions seeking joinder of the case.

“The SCGOP has an interest in defending the integrity of the 2024 general election – and protecting its Republican candidates throughout the ballot – from (the ACLU’s) attempt to interfere with the election after it has already begun ” reads Thursday’s filing from the state Republican Party.

The state party describes the request to add people to the lawsuit as an effort to “add unknown people to voter rolls without even a second glance.”

The Republican Party has opposed other efforts to shorten the voter registration period before an election, according to the filing.

Earlier this month, a court extended the voter registration deadline by 10 days, to November 14, to give those affected by Helen more time. The state Republican Party disagreed with the decision, saying the extension should have applied only to counties hit by the tropical storm, which covered more than half the state.

The state Democratic Party did not intervene in the lawsuit. But Jay Parmley, executive director of the state party, said Democrats support it.

“There is no excuse, there is absolutely no excuse for not turning over voter registration information from the DMV to the Election Commission,” Parmley said at an event Wednesday. “It shouldn’t be a problem, period. So go ACLU.

Early voting began Monday in South Carolina and quickly broke turnout records. During the first three days, nearly 400,000 people voted in advance.