Chairman Dennis Shedd, center, speaks during a State Election Commission meeting in Columbia, South Carolina on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (Photo by Adrian Ashford/SC Daily Gazette)
COLUMBIA — The chairman overseeing the state’s elections agency resigned effective Wednesday, saying he felt the agency was in a good place after multiple controversies over the past year.
West Columbia attorney Robert Bolchoz will become the next chairman, Gov. Henry McMaster said Wednesday.
McMaster appointed Dennis Shedd, a retired federal judge, to the role in 2024. The job was always supposed to be short-term, Shedd said Wednesday during a regularly scheduled commission meeting.
“Somebody asked me why I was grinning yesterday, once I handed my letter to the governor, and I told him I was prepared to retire,” Shedd said.
Shedd expected to stay in the job for less than a year, long enough to ensure the 2024 presidential election went smoothly before returning to retirement, he said.
But trouble kept coming.
“It was more turmoil and a lot more work than I thought,” Shedd said of his time at the agency.
“At one point, I didn’t know who I could even talk to and trust at the agency,” he added.
In September, the commission fired then-executive director Howard Knapp, followed soon after by his deputy director, Paige Salonich.
Knapp was arrested in October on charges of embezzlement and misconduct in office related to his use of state-provided vehicles in 2023.
Problems went further than the criminal charges, Shedd said previously. Shedd accused Knapp of misrepresenting a $32 million contract for new voting machines to commissioners, leaving the agency with a bill higher than the board expected to pay.
However, Shedd signed off on a budget request for that amount. The chairman later said he didn’t read the ask, despite putting his name on it, and claimed that wasn’t part of his job.
Meanwhile, the agency faced a lawsuit from a voter attempting to stop the release of voter data to the U.S. Department of Justice. The federal agency sought all information on the state’s voters, including names, birthdays and drivers’ license numbers, which the lawsuit claimed violated the state constitution’s privacy guarantees.
Negotiations are underway on an agreement with the federal government over what voter information the agency will release, he said, though he declined to give details.
The agency’s troubles that kept Shedd there are over, he said.
“I thank Judge Shedd for his willingness to step in and answer the call to serve during a critical period for the State Election Commission,” McMaster said in a statement. “His steady leadership and guidance were exactly what our state needed and played a key role in maintaining the public’s confidence in our elections.”
Shedd trusts the agency’s new director, Jenny Wooten, and the rest of the staff, he added. Under Wooten’s leadership, the board received more reports about the agency’s activities than before, and he felt confident that path would continue, he said.
“I think (agency staff) will continue to do what we’ve done: always try to do what’s reasonable, what’s right and what’s in the best interest of South Carolinians,” Shedd said. “That ought to be the motto or something for this agency, because that’s what they do.”
Wooten praised Shedd for his work at the agency, saying the staff would miss his leadership but understood he wanted to spend more time with his grandchildren.
“You set the standard for integrity and accountability, and you leave us with big shoes to fill,” Wooten said.
Bolchoz’s term will begin Thursday.
A longtime attorney with experience in the local solicitor’s office and the attorney general’s office, Bolchoz was previously appointed by McMaster to lead the board overseeing the state Department of Health and Environmental Control. Bolchoz stepped down in December 2022, citing a new business opportunity.
His departure also came amid legislative efforts to break up the agency. Under a law passed in 2023, DHEC split into two separate agencies for public health and environmental services, starting July 2024. Both were put directly under the governor’s control, dissolving the board. Then last year, the Legislature passed a law merging several other public health agencies.
Also on Wednesday, McMaster appointed Angela Stringer, a member of the Anderson County elections board, to fill a vacancy on the state commission. Former commissioner Linda McCall left the board in September, saying in a resignation letter that she couldn’t focus on her work because of personal matters.
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