Mark Meadows also registered to vote in South Carolina
Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows was reportedly registered to vote simultaneously in three states, including South Carolina
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Mark Meadows ā a former chief of staff to President Donald Trump who was removed from North Carolina voter rolls earlier this month ā is still a registered voter in two other states, according to officials.
Chris Whitmire, a spokesperson for the South Carolina Elections Commission, told The Associated Press the former Republican congressman and his wife registered as voters in the state in March 2022.
āThatās when he became active,ā Whitmire said, noting that neither Meadows had yet cast a vote in the state. āFrom our perspective, it just looks like any new South Carolina voter.ā
The South Carolina registration was first reported by The Washington Post, which noted that Meadows had been a registered voter simultaneously in three states ā the Carolinas and Virginia ā until North Carolina removed him from its rolls earlier this month. Meadows remains a registered Virginia voter, the paper reported.
Mark and Debra Meadows bought a home on picturesque Lake Keowee for $1.6 million in July, according to records for the property, which was listed on their South Carolina voter registration records.
The former North Carolina congressman appeared in South Carolina earlier this week with members of the state Legislatureās newly-formed Freedom Caucus, an offshoot of a similar conservative group Meadows helped found on the federal level while serving in the U.S. House.
A representative for Meadows declined comment Friday on the South Carolina voter registration.
Last month, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Steinās office asked the State Bureau of Investigation to look into Meadowsā voter registration in that state, which listed a home he never owned ā and may never have visited ā as his legal residence.
Public records indicated Meadows had been registered to vote in Virginia and North Carolina, where he listed a Scaly Mountain mobile home he did not own as his legal residence weeks before casting an absentee 2020 presidential election ballot in the state. Trump, for whom Meadows was serving as chief of staff in Washington at the time, won the battleground state by just over 1 percentage point.
Public records indicate Meadows registered to vote in Alexandria, Virginia, about a year after he registered in Scaly Mountain, and just weeks before Virginiaās high-profile governorās election last fall.
Meadows frequently raised the prospect of voter fraud before the 2020 presidential election ā as polls showed Trump trailing now-President Joe Biden ā and in the months after Trumpās loss, to suggest Biden was not the legitimate winner.
Judges, election officials in both parties and Trumpās own attorney general have concluded there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Experts point to isolated incidents of intentional or unintentional violations of voter laws in every election.
Through the Electronic Registration Information Center, a consortium through which states exchange data about voter registration, Whitmire also said officials periodically pull voter lists and remove those who have more recently registered in a new state.
___
Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.