More States Withdraw From Corrupt Voter Maintenance System, ERIC

A few weeks ago, Texas lawmakers sent Senate Bill 1070 (SB 1070) to Gov. Greg Abbott (R), positioning the state to become the eighth to withdraw from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) this year, and the ninth since 2022.

People have long known that ERIC obstructs transparency. It registers noncitizens, enjoys illegal access to member states residents’ personal information, and fails to remove moved, ineligible and dead voters.

ERIC was presented as a voter roll maintenance system for some states to keep their voter registration lists current. But data indicates it is another tool (like Dominion Voting machines, Runbeck Elections ballot printers, Konnech voting tabulation, running Mules, USPS Union, etc.) to control and manipulate elections.

ERIC was originally funded by the Soros Open Society to bloat the voter rolls. Evidence indicates ERIC is politically compromised. For instance, just prior to the 2020 elections,the number of Michigan’s registered voters climbed to 104% of its Voting Aged Population (VAP).

At its height, 33 states were participating members in ERIC. The country’s four most populous states broke in different directions when it came to joining the organization—California and New York never joined, while Florida and Texas did.

A group of chief election officials in Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, Utah, Virginia, and Washington established ERIC in 2012 with financial assistance from the Pew Charitable Trusts (Soros backed).

•A multi-state voter list maintenance nonprofit, ERIC claims its mission is “to help states improve the accuracy of America’s voter rolls, increase access to voter registration for all eligible citizens, reduce election costs, and increase efficiencies in elections.”

•Because states run elections, there is no national list of voters.

• States that join ERIC agree to share their voter registration and licensing and identification data from motor vehicle departments every 60 days. ERIC compiles this data and issues a series of voter list maintenance reports. The organization also requires member states to contact eligible voters with voting registration information.

On July 13, 2022, Louisiana became the first state to officially resign its membership in ERIC, after previously suspending its participation in January.
Since then, the following seven states have also withdrawn:

Alabama
Florida
Iowa
Ohio
Missouri
Virginia
West Virginia

With the exception of Louisiana, which has a Democratic governor, every state that has withdrawn from ERIC has a Republican governor.

Critics of ERIC include officials like Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R), who once defended the organization but now say it needs to enact reforms related to governance, data security, and member state requirements.

LaRose said ERIC’s bylaws should be changed to no longer allow two non-voting members who are not government employees on the board of directors:

“ERIC’s membership should only consist of member states, who answer to the voters and taxpayers they represent.”

Objecting to a requirement that members regularly contact eligible but unregistered voters, LaRose also said members should be able to decide for themselves how best to use ERIC’s data.

Ohio’s withdrawal from ERIC is effective June 16.

Susan Beals, Virginia’s commissioner of elections, said that although Virginia was a founding member of the organization, “ERIC’s mandate has expanded beyond that of its initial intent—to improve the accuracy of voter rolls. We will pursue other information arrangements with our neighboring states and look to other opportunities to partner with states in an apolitical fashion.”

Not all Republican secretaries of state have opposed ERIC, however. Controversial RINO Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), said, “states that prioritize best practices and actual election integrity over politics are going to stay in ERIC and have clearer and more accurate voter rolls than those that choose to leave.”

Corrupt Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) said, “This entire controversy is fueled by easily debunked misinformation and a newfound desire by some member states wanting to opt out of sending eligible citizens information on how to register to vote.”

The Texas Republican Party, which supported the state’s withdrawal from ERIC, said, “The ERIC membership agreement collects an extensive amount of personally identifiable information and data related to elections going far beyond the requirements of our Interstate Crosscheck Program.”

Texas isn’t the first state in which the legislature has passed a bill that would affect membership in ERIC. On May 15, the Arizona Legislature sent Senate Bill 1135 (SB 1135) to Gov. Katie Hobbs (D), which Hobbs vetoed on May 26. The bill included provisions that would have effectively withdrawn Arizona from ERIC.

In the eight states that have withdrawn from ERIC so far, the chief election official made the decision without legislative input.