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On Wednesday, January 21, 2025, at the beginning of the South Carolina Election Commission’s monthly meeting, Chairman Dennis Shedd announced his resignation “effective end of day”. This comes just four months after Shedd oversaw the termination of former director Howard “Howie” Knapp and former deputy Paige Salonich, which was shortly followed by the resignation of John Michael Catalano following an internal investigation led by interim director Jenny Wooten.

On October 24, 2025, just over a month following their terminations, Knapp and Salonich were arrested and charged by the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED). Knapp faces 11 charges of related to embezzlement, misconduct, accessory, and use of his official position for financial gain. Salonich faces one charge of wiretapping.

Chairman Dennis Shedd is a former U.S. circuit court judge and was known for his “no-nonsense” demeanor and rulings. After a short retirement from the bench that began in 2022, McMaster appointed Shedd to the South Carolina State Election Commission board as chairman in March 2024, succeeding John Wells.

Even though Shedd only served under two years, it was clear he had taken this “no-nonsense” demeanor into the State Election Commission. Shedd consistently questioned former director Knapp and gave some push back which was a stark contrast from yes-man John Wells.

On the terms of Shedd’s appointment from Governor McMaster, he commented that he “got called in circumstances I did not expect…I agreed to do this on a short-term basis to get us through the general election to be sure nobody could challenge how the elections went from either side.” [16:00]

“I didn’t want to plan to get into the other troubles that we had to get into,” Shedd lamented. “It was more turmoil and a lot more work than I thought because for a period of time I’ll tell you for about 3 weeks it was 12 to 18 hours every single day.” [16:42]

“At one point I didn’t know who I could even talk to and trust at the agency. It was so interwoven with what was going on.” [17:15]

In October 2025, nine days before his arrest, Shedd slammed former director Howard Knapp for several alleged indiscretions, including the shady $32 million dollar machine purchased that Palmetto State Watch Foundation exclusively exposed in March that went unaddressed until after Knapp’s termination in October.

At the end of the meeting, I asked if the State Election Commission could confirm in the SC Office of Inspector General (OIG) was investigating the $32 million election machine purchase and if they knew of the finding of this investigation. General Counsel Thomas Nicholson told Shedd that they had not received a report yet.

Shedd also credited whistleblowers within the agency who “shared information with me… some did it openly and some I still don’t know who they are,” noting that their input was essential in resolving these internal issues. [23:48]

Department Of Justice Requests for Voter Lists

Back in August 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) requested access to South Carolina’s voter registration lists to assist in federal efforts to maintain accurate voter rolls and ensure compliance with federal voting laws. Former election director Howard Knapp originally refused to comply with the request, but following his ousting (and a legal dispute to boot) the State Election Commission is working with the DOJ.

Outgoing Chairman Shedd gave updates on the DOJ’s proposal, stating that the “DOJ wanted to send us their template, their language they wanted for the MOU, memorandum of understanding…this is sort of at least the proposal that DOJ has offered to us.” [10:53]

The information the SEC will be providing is less than what the election commission has given through ERIC, the state’s voter data rolls. “They seek less information than the commission has already shared with about 25 other states in a voter list sharing arrangement.” [11:19]

“They do not require that we give any driver’s license information, which I think is a good thing to protect that private information,” [11:31] Shedd concluded. “Our plan all along has been to have a public discussion of any agreement that we would enter with them and then to discuss it in public and then have a public vote on it.” [12:11]

McMaster Appoints Attorney and Former DHEC Chair Robert Bolchoz

During the State Election Commission’s meeting, Governor Henry McMaster announced that he had appointed Robert Bolchoz to fill the chairman position. Bolchoz is a prominent attorney from Lexington County who has alternating between government service and private practice.

Most recently, Bolchoz served as the Chairman for the Department of Health and Environmental Control from February 2022 to December 2022 along with Dr. Edward Simmer as Director. Bolchoz also served as Chief Deputy Attorney General twice, once in the late 1990s and again under Attorney General Alan Wilson from December 2016 to August 2017, according to his LinkedIn.

“Mr. Bolchoz is a widely respected attorney and has valuable legal experience handling tough election issues with the commission as well as having served in leadership positions at state agencies. I believe he is the best choice to move the commission forward,” McMaster wrote in his press release published Wednesday.