Freedom Caucus posts on social media prompt threatening calls to SC election agency

(File/Getty Images)

COLUMBIA — A Republican legislator’s claims on social media that a refugee in Spartanburg received multiple voter registration forms resulted in a flood of phone calls to the South Carolina Election Commission, which refuted the idea that it’s putting non-citizens on voter rolls.

Decades-old federal law requires that anyone receiving government aid be offered an opportunity to register to vote — regardless of their legal status. But that doesn’t mean non-citizens can actually register, said election agency spokesman John Michael Catalano.

“The very first question you have to answer on a voter registration application is, ‘Are you a US citizen?’ and the very last thing you see before you sign an application is that any fraudulent registration is a crime,” Catalano told the SC Daily Gazette on Wednesday.

And the agency doesn’t simply rely on applicants being truthful, he said.

The auditing process includes checking voter data against a Department of Homeland Security database, he said, pointing to a review of records from 2020 to 2023 that found zero instances of a non-citizen voting in South Carolina.

The angry phone calls the agency received this week prompted the commission to put a “not on our watch” statement on its website. It also caused the office to make its own call — to law enforcement.

“Yesterday we asked a law enforcement officer to just come to our office because some of our calls were threats,” Catalano said. “Things like, ‘Watch your back,’ and ‘I’ll come for you.'”

While employees don’t think the callers “have any intention of following up” on the threats, they thought it best to have protection just in case.

Rep. Adam Morgan, R-Taylors, talks to colleagues in the House chamber on the opening day of the 2024 session Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, at the Statehouse in Columbia, S.C. (File/Mary Ann Chastain/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)

The backlash began when state Rep. Adam Morgan, who’s running for Congress, posted Monday on X/formerly Twitter that a refugee received a packet at the Social Security office in Spartanburg with a voter registration form.

“But the story gets worse,” continued Morgan, who is challenging GOP Rep. William Timmons for the seat representing Spartanburg and Greenville counties.

The refugee’s relative, who is a citizen, mailed the forms back and a few weeks later received more voter registration forms in the mail, he wrote.

He then corrected himself, saying the refugee confused government offices, and it was actually the state Medicaid agency that gave her the form.

“Stop this nonsense in your state!” wrote Morgan, R-Taylors.

The hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus, which he chairs, then sent Gov. Henry McMaster a letter Wednesday and posted it on X/Twitter. It sought an immediate investigation of the Department of Health and Human Services “to determine whether or not this Cabinet agency should be held accountable for misspending taxpayer funds to illegally register non-citizens to vote.”

Within two hours, McMaster responded with his own letter on X, informing Morgan that State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel would be contacting him immediately to arrange a meeting.

“This will allow you to provide SLED with any and all evidence, documents and information that you possess in order to evaluate the authenticity of your allegations of illegalities,” he wrote.

“The integrity of our elections is indeed a top concern,” he concluded. “I ask that you give Chief Keel your full and immediate cooperation.”

Critics of the Freedom Caucus, which publicly feuds with the House’s GOP majority both in the chamber and online, chimed in on social media questioning whether Morgan made up the story.

An X/Twitter account that spoofs the Freedom Caucus retweeted McMaster’s letter, adding, “When your campaign stunt leads to SLED investigating you…”

A spokesperson for SLED said only that the agency “will review the allegations provided.”

Morgan said SLED is investigating what happened, not him, and he’s arranged a sit-down with the refugee’s family.

“All those involved are meeting with SLED just to investigate how they got the form, who sent it to them and why they sent it to them multiple times,” Morgan told the SC Daily Gazette.

“I wanted to inform the public and make sure everyone knows this is happening on their tax dollars, and that we need people that have these kinds of issues to come forward and report it,” Morgan said, explaining his initial post of the form he said the refugee received. “I just think we need to make sure we get it right.”

The form he posted was not actually a voter registration form. It was a voter declination form, which asks someone receiving government assistance if they’d like to register to vote. One of four boxes can be checked. That form does not ask about citizenship.

The Freedom Caucus asked McMaster to order state agencies to “cease and desist” giving voter registration and voter declination forms to noncitizens.

But that’s not an option under federal law, according to spokespeople from the elections and Medicaid agencies.

“All that form is is telling those people about voter registration and letting them know, hey, if you’re eligible, you can register to vote if you want to,” said Catalano.

Beyond supplying the required forms, the Medicaid agency has nothing to do with putting people on voter rolls. It would prefer not to have to distribute voter registration material to every applicant, as that would allow the department to “focus singularly on officially operating” the government health care program, said spokesman Jeff Leieritz.

He also noted Morgan did not reach out to the Medicaid director about his concerns. Morgan confirmed that to the Gazette but said others had been in contact with the agency.

Generally, non-citizens don’t qualify for regular Medicaid coverage in South Carolina. Exceptions include refugees legally resettling here.

The letters between the Freedom Caucus and McMaster were posted online the same day the House unanimously approved asking voters whether the state constitution should specify that “only” citizens can vote.

A final, perfunctory vote Thursday will put the question on the November ballot. It seeks to change the state constitution’s guaranteed right to vote from “every” to “only a” citizen in South Carolina who’s at least 18 and properly registered.

The Senate approved the resolution last month.

Some municipalities across the country have allowed non-citizens to vote in local elections, and the resolution’s Senate sponsors said the change would prevent that from ever being an option in South Carolina.

SC Daily Gazette Editor Seanna Adcox contributed to this report.

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