State Representative JA Moore, D-Charleston, says two separate issues affected voters at the Howe Hall polling location in Berkeley County during Tuesday’s election.
Moore says a constituent contacted him on election morning to report an error with the voting machine. He says operational issues prevented the voting machine from properly reading eight voters' ballots.
According to the South Carolina Election Commission, the county did not report any issues involving spoiled ballots.
The technical issues were resolved and poll workers issued new ballots to all eight voters. Their votes were counted.
Later that afternoon, three young women, ages 18 to 19, told Moore they had been turned away from the polling location.
Moore says the women, who attend Goose Creek High School, registered to vote for the first time earlier this year. He says poll workers "claim[ed] they couldn't find them in the system."
"I told them, "Well you can do [a] provisional ballot. You should be allowed to vote,’” Moore says.
A provisional ballot is not immediately counted. According to the South Carolina Election Commission (SEC), provisional ballots are a standard part of the voting process when a voter's eligibility needs to be verified. County election officials determine after the election whether a provisional ballot can be counted.
UPDATE IN BERKELEY COUNTY
— Rep. JA Moore (@jamooreforsc) November 3, 2026
This is unacceptable.
Earlier today I was at the Howe Hall polling location doing an interview about a separate problem voters had already faced there. While I was standing there, these young ladies walked in, proud and excited to cast their first vote.… pic.twitter.com/K4qnG0eVR3
"I went in there, explained to them the provisional voting law, and they still would not let the girls vote. So, those three girls left," Moore said
Moore says he consulted election lawyers, the state Democratic Party and the South Carolina House Democratic Caucus executive director Nicholas Sottile to clarify the law. He says each confirmed that challenged voters can cast provisional ballots.
Around 5 p.m., poll workers contacted Rosie Brown, the director of the Berkeley County Board of Voter Registration and Elections. Moore says officials determined that poll workers had misinterpreted the law and that the women could cast provisional ballots.
"I think a lot of it was fear. That they didn't want to make a mistake," Moore says. "I think these poll workers were just being overly cautious, [and] weren't interpreting the law correctly."
Only two of the three women were ultimately able to return and cast their ballots. The SEC says Berkeley county confirmed that some voters cast provisional ballots.
"I was able to reach out to those three young ladies and asked them to come back. And what was sad about this is two out of the three came back. The third one would have came back, but she had to go to work," he says. "That's why she came when she came. Because she knew she had to work. [Now] it's about 5 p.m., and it took another hour and 40 minutes. [These] young ladies came in to vote at 3 p.m."
Moore says the incident nearly prevented the young women from exercising their right to vote.
"No matter what the excuses are, these young girls, these 18 and 19-year-old kids, [it's there] first time ever voting and their rights were almost disenfranchised,” he says. “And, one of them was."
Looking ahead, Moore says South Carolina needs to make voting more accessible for eligible voters, particularly young people.
"I don't know if I would have had that same gumption and fearlessness to do so," Moore says. "But, these these young ladies again was the hero of the night for me."
