On October 8, 2025, FFRF filed a lawsuit on behalf of South Carolina resident Jim Reel. Reel sought to become a poll worker for the 2024 election. While he completed the required online training, he was not allowed to substitute a secular affirmation for the religious oath that was required as part of the application process. Reel is an atheist and due to his sincerely held convictions, he is unwilling to swear “so help me God.”
Reel asked the Greenville County voter registration and elections office whether a secular affirmation was available for poll workers in lieu of the religious oath. The office responded that a secular affirmation without “so help me God” would not be accepted. FFRF then sent a letter on Reel’s behalf to the State Election Commission, noting that Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from requiring any kind of religious test for public office. The director of the commission responded, in part, that “the County Boards must require it to be signed before trained candidates are appointed poll workers.” FFRF then followed up with the county election board and filed a lawsuit after the county refused to offer a secular alternative.
FFRF’s complaint argues that the defendants are coercing a statement of belief in a monotheistic deity, thereby denying nontheists or those worshiping more than one deity the right to serve as poll workers. Not only is Reel, as an atheist, barred from becoming a poll worker under this policy, but the rights of other South Carolina citizens who have no religious affiliation are also injured. Additionally, the defendants are denying Christians who belong to sects that eschew swearing oaths to a deity, such as some Mennonites, Baptists and Quakers, the right to serve as poll workers.
This lawsuit was filed in the US District Court of South Carolina. South Carolina attorney Steven Edward Buckingham is acting as local counsel, with FFRF Senior Litigation Counsel Sam Grover and Legal Fellow Kyle Steinberg acting as co-counsel.
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