SCDMV fixes computer glitch that blocked voter registration for thousands of teenagers

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) — The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (SCDMV) confirmed Monday it has fixed a computer glitch that caused thousands of teenagers’ voter registration not to be processed ahead of last November’s election.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sued the SCDMV weeks before the Nov. 5 general election, alleging that the agency unlawfully denied thousands of first-time voters the opportunity to register to vote. They claimed more than 17,000 South Carolinians who were 17 when they attempted to register but would have reached legal voting age by Election Day were impacted.

According to the State Election Commission, the SCDMV system was unable to send applications automatically to the election office for individuals who were not yet 18 when the application was completed.

Though 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 were not notified.

The ACLU argued those individuals should have been added to the state’s voter rolls as guaranteed by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which requires certain government agencies that provide public assistance to offer voter registration services.

A circuit court judge ultimately denied the ACLU’s motion, refusing to reopen voter registration for the 1,900 affected teens.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

The ACLU, South Carolina League of Women Voters, and SC NAACP wrote a letter to the SCDMV on March 26, threatening legal action if the agency failed to “swiftly fix” the issue.

The agency responded the next day, indicating that it had resolved the glitch so that its system would now send voter registration information for individuals 16 years and older to the State Election Commission.

“I am proud of our advocacy and thankful to the DMV for agreeing to fix the system without additional litigation,” said Allen Chaney, Legal Director of ACLU of South Carolina. “I remain frustrated, however, that state officials fought so mightily against DMV fixing this issue sooner.”

In a statement to News 2, an SCDMV spokesperson said the agency would “continue to work proactively” with the State Election Commission to ensure federal requirements are followed.

“We appreciate the efforts made by SCDMV to ensure compliance with federal and state law, and we look forward to working closely with county election offices to ensure these applications are processed in a timely and accurate manner,” a State Election Commission spokesperson said in a statement.