By Andy Brack
The question you should ask whenever you hear elected officials squawking about “rigged elections” is this: “So that means the election that put you in office was rigged, right?”
Of course, their elections weren’t rigged. And in South Carolina, they point to no specific election that was rigged – other than the one that former President Donald Trump continues to falsely claim was stolen. Everyone else’s elections? They were just fine. Which should make you question Trump’s claims.
Way too many gullible people get outrageous notions of rigged elections from being hopped up on Russian-backed internet propaganda, myths, old-wives tales, rumors, outlandish conspiracy theories and fake news developed by un-American cynics who want to stir up trouble.
Across the nation, countless audits of state and county election processes after the 2020 election consistently showed one thing: America’s elections are conducted professionally, transparently and with real accountability.
And while there may be an issue here or a problem there during the closely-monitored elections, most tiny snafus are because people – not machines – screwed something up, as explained by Howie Knapp, executive director of the S.C. Election Commission.
“We conducted audits of the [2020] election, and every county publicly tested their machines at the time,” Knapp said. “It was as perfect an election as we could have gotten under the circumstances that we had in November 2020.”
There’s no corruption in elections in South Carolina, he told us this week emphatically, elaborating with this: “If there are issues with the system, it’s incompetence. For an election to be rigged in this state – I’m not including municipal elections – everybody from myself and my commission to the poll managers would have to be on the same page.
“We’d [have to] be tighter than the mafia,” he said. “If people think that is possible, they’re giving the government way too much credit.”
Repeat: No corruption. No collusion. No rigging. No voter fraud.
But occasionally in anything in which 2.4 million people do something on the same day, there will be small problems.
“We have poll managers, you know, turning away voters because, for whatever reason, their name didn’t come up on the electronic poll book, or just not doing procedures correctly. And that comes from a lack of training.”
So it’s people problems, not machine problems.
“We’ve had a lot of turnover with county directors and poll managers and poll workers around the state,” he said.
Since 2021, the state has lost 80% of its county elections directors,” which Knapp said concerns him.
“If people are skeptical and they don’t have an agenda other than just finding out the truth, we encourage them to volunteer as poll managers so they can see firsthand what the system is about,” he said. “We’re not hiding anything.
“We’re doing everything we can, from testing it on the front end, getting people trained who are skeptical and auditing the results. I mean, there’s nothing else we can do besides telling people what we’re doing. … We’re being as transparent as possible.”
Yep, that sounds like a big old conspiracy – to invite people in to see what’s happening.
A recent survey by the Election Commission showed 82% of South Carolinians had confidence in the state’s election system. And 95% said they thought polling places were organized and well-run. Those numbers can improve with more education, a continued commitment to transparency and accountability, and people starting to really question the loony Internet mess about rigged elections.
Participate in this year’s elections. It’s one of every citizen’s greatest powers. If you’re not registered, fill out the form and register. Your window is narrowing.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send it to feedback@statehousereport.com.
