SC Votes: Chairman Slams ‘Toxic, Hostile’ Workplace Under Former Leader

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

by WILL FOLKS

***

The chairman of South Carolina’s election commission (SCVotes.gov) took the former executive director of the agency to the proverbial woodshed during a public meeting at its headquarters in downtown Columbia, S.C. on Wednesday morning (October 15, 2025).

Chairman Dennis Shedd – a former U.S. circuit court judge – blasted former agency director Howie Knapp for misleading commissioners, wasting tax dollars, falsifying records and creating what he referred to as a “toxic” and “hostile” workplace at the agency, which is responsible for upholding the fairness, impartiality and accessibility of elections in the Palmetto State.

Oh, and all of that is before we get to a multi-million dollar hole in the agency’s budget allegedly caused by Knapp’s misrepresentations to the commission – details of which prompted an impassioned appearance before the panel by S.C. state treasurer Curtis Loftis.

The litany of Knapp’s alleged indiscretions was voluminous, according to Shedd – and potentially exceedingly costly to the agency (and to taxpayers).

“The former executive director, Mr. Knapp, was removed because of his inappropriate conduct,” Shedd said. “There are a litany of things that Howard Knapp had done that the commission had become aware of: his use or misuse of agency funds for personal reasons, his conspiring with other management-level staffers to falsify documentation the commission was seeking and conspiring with those staffers to lie about the fact they had falsified that documentation.”

***

The conduct that led to former S.C. Election Comission director Howie Knapp's termination was the subject of a no-holds-barred monologue by State Election Comission chairman Dennis Shedd during today's board meeting.

Get the full story on @FITSNews.com pic.twitter.com/EARU87KBBn

— Dylan Nolan (@dnolan2000) October 15, 2025

***

To recap: Knapp was fired last month by the commission. The following day, FITSNews exclusively reported that agents of the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) were investigating allegations of wiretapping involving Knapp. Days later, we exclusively reported SLED’s wiretapping investigation had expanded to include SCVotes’ deputy director Paige Salonich.

This was not the first investigation of Knapp initiated by SLED. At the time of his ouster, he was already staring down a separate SLED investigation into “allegations of misconduct” (.pdf).

“I’m not aware we have been told that investigation is closed,” Shedd said at the meeting. “As far as we know that’s still an ongoing matter.”

Shedd indicated Knapp was the focus of another ongoing investigation – this one led by the office of S.C. inspector general Brian Lamkin, who attended Wednesday’s meeting. Lamkin confirmed his agency was looking into allegations related to “agency operations and procedures,” but declined to elaborate on the inquiry.

Shedd did make clear that Knapp’s “wrongdoing did not touch on vote counting or election management.”

In addition to Salonich – who was fired in the aftermath of Knapp’s unspooling – a third agency employee, former spokesman John Michael Catalano, was recently allowed to resign in connection with an internal agency investigation led by interim SCVotes’ director Jenny Wooten.

***

***

Shedd said he was confident Wooten’s inquiry had rooted out those involved in alleged managerial misconduct at the agency.

“They are no longer with the agency,” Shedd said, referring to Knapp, Salonich and Catalano.

Of interest? Shedd also indicated all three former agency leaders admitted to falsifying documents – and lying about those falsifications to commissioners when questioned.

“The falsification and the agreement to lie about that was all admitted by Knapp and those other staffers,” he said.

Shedd pulled no punches in his assessment of Knapp’s performance as executive director.

“This agency, we found out, had become a toxic and perhaps a hostile work environment under (Knapp’s) leadership,” Shedd continued. “Quite frankly, based on what I’ve read in press reports… if that actually happened here – and I have no reason to say it didn’t happen here – Knapp turned this office into even worse things.”

That’s likely a reference to some of the more salacious discoveries involving Knapp and Salonich made in the aftermath of their termination last month. Knapp and Salonich were reportedly engaged in a romantic relationship with each other, one allegedly facilitated with taxpayer dollars.

***

“Since (Knapp’s) dismissal, we have learned of additional misconduct and further details about the misconduct we already knew about it,” Shedd continued. “He and his very close friend and fellow employee, Paige Salonich, were involved in planting a device in this very room to record our confidential meeting.”

“They actually secretly planted a recording device in this room,” Shedd added, referring to the wiretapping allegations currently under criminal investigation.

Arguably the most shocking revelation from the meeting involved a dispute over a $28 million contract to purchase new voting machines – a contract Shedd and other commissioners insist they were misled about by Knapp.

“The facts about that contract were misrepresented to us,” Shedd said. “The executive director misrepresented things to us – and that’s very concerning – and when you put that on top of other things that he hasn’t been truthful about. We were all going on representations made by Mr. Knapp. We now know those representations were not correct.”  

According to Shedd, Knapp convinced commissioners of the need to purchase new voting machines – then worked with the office of S.C. treasurer Curtis Loftis to procure a loan for $32 million to purchase them. This loan was to be used as a “stopgap” measure until funds appropriated by the S.C. General Assembly for the machines materialized.

***

RELATED | SC VOTES DRAMA

***

“We have a person who did not operate in good faith,” Loftis told the commission. “The person in charge, Mr. Knapp, negotiated behind your back.”

While the first payment on that loan was due on September 30, 2025, Shedd made it clear he first wanted to ensure any agreement negotiated by Knapp was legal – suggesting the commission could potentially enter into a “new, independent agreement” regarding the financing of the voting machines.

“We agreed to $28 million and I’m told the loan amount was $32 million,” Shedd said. “I want to know why there’s another $4 million.” 

Taxpayers want to know, too…

“I’m concerned about putting my name on anything connected to that contract,” Shedd said. “Those papers Mr. Knapp signed – we never saw any of it. I have very serious concerns about what he did with our authorization.”

Shedd also made no secret of his dissatisfaction with recent editorializing by The (Charleston, S.C.) Post and Courier – specifically columns which have sought to conflate the current scandal at the agency with a recent election lawsuit ginned up by Democrat lawmakers. He confirmed, once again, that Knapp’s ouster had nothing to do with the ongoing debate over South Carolina’s cooperation with a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) request for voter data.

“The commission does not have a formal position on what we want to do with that request,” Shedd said. “We’ve been so busy defending those lawsuits and trying to clear up and move out staff mismanagement.”

Count on FITSNews to keep our audience apprised on any new developments regarding these ongoing investigations.

***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

***

WANNA SOUND OFF?

Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.