In our previous reporting from March 2025 and October 2025, we documented how the South Carolina Election Commission (SEC) former Executive Director Howard “Howie” Knapp used the state’s Master Lease Program as a backdoor to borrow tens of millions of dollars for new election equipment the legislature had explicitly refused to fund just months before. We now have …In our previous reporting from March 2025 and October 2025, we documented how the South Carolina Election Commission (SEC) former Executive Director Howard “Howie” Knapp used the state’s Master Lease Program as a backdoor to borrow tens of millions of dollars for new election equipment the legislature had explicitly refused to fund just months before. We now have …