{"id":2163622,"date":"2024-01-31T04:17:01","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T09:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-erics-voter-roll-maintenance-is-so-popular-why-do-democrats-feel-a-need-to-force-states-to-join\/"},"modified":"2024-01-31T04:24:07","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T09:24:07","slug":"if-erics-voter-roll-maintenance-is-so-popular-why-do-democrats-feel-a-need-to-force-states-to-join","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-erics-voter-roll-maintenance-is-so-popular-why-do-democrats-feel-a-need-to-force-states-to-join\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do Democrats want to force states to join ERIC’s voter roll ‘maintenance’ if it’s already popular"},"content":{"rendered":"

34<\/div>SHARES<\/span><\/div>

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Democrats and their media allies have\u2063 long claimed the Electronic Registration Information\u200c Center, or ERIC, is \u200ca popular, nonpartisan venture designed \u200cto help clean state voter rolls<\/a>. But if that\u2019s true, why do primarily Democrat lawmakers feel the need to strong-arm their state election officials into join \u2064the program?<\/p>\n

Founded<\/a> in 2012 by far-left activist David Becker<\/a>, \u200d ERIC<\/a> is a widely used voter-roll \u200b\u201cmanagement\u201d system that was \u201csold to states as a quick and easy way to update their voter rolls.\u201d In reality, ERIC\u2019s membership agreement places a higher priority on\u2063 registering new voters than on\u200d cleaning up existing voter rolls.<\/p>\n

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The program inflates voter rolls<\/a>\u00a0by requiring member\u200c states to contact \u201celigible but unregistered\u201d\u200b (EBU) residents to encourage them to register to vote. \u2062When a state joins ERIC, it is required<\/a> to submit \u201call active\u2064 and inactive voter \u2063files,\u201d \u201call licensing or identification records contained in the motor vehicles database,\u201d \u200band any state files related to \u201cvoter registration functions.\u201d Then, ERIC contrasts this data with that submitted by other member states.<\/p>\n

After this process, \u200cERIC compiles updated voter-roll information \u2014 including\u2063 lists of voters who have multiple registrations, moved, or died, and lists of EBUs \u2014 and submits it\u200c to member\u2063 states. As Victoria Marshall explained<\/a> in these pages,\u200c ERIC only mandates that states engage in voter list maintenance \u201c<\/a>after\u2063 a state has independently validated\u201d \u2062the\u200c data it receives from\u2062 the organization. In other words, \u201cif \u200da state does\u200c not independently validate the ERIC data, it is not required to \u2062clean its voter rolls.\u201d<\/p>\n

ERIC\u2019s ties to Becker \u2014\u2064 who has\u200c since resigned<\/a> from \u2064his role as a nonvoting ERIC board member \u2014 and its persistent refusal to alter its bylaws have prompted several GOP\u2064 election officials \u200bto withdraw their states from \u2062the program\u2063 throughout the past\u2064 two years. Included in this growing list<\/a> are Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Virginia, and several \u2062other states. Some of these jurisdictions, including Virginia<\/a>, Ohio<\/a>, and Alabama<\/a>, have since\u200b formed\u2064 separate interstate voter data-sharing pacts \u200dto replace the functions ERIC performs.<\/p>\n

Forced Relationships Are Not Healthy Relationships<\/h2>\n
As legacy media\u2019s dishonest<\/a> hit pieces<\/a> against ERIC\u2019s \u200dcritics fail to stop GOP-led states from leaving the organization, \u2064Democrat state lawmakers are taking matters\u200c into their own hands. In recent weeks, leftist legislators\u2062 throughout \u2063the country have introduced legislation \u2064to force their state governments to apply to become members of ERIC. <\/p>\n
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In Virginia, \u200dDemocrat Del.\u200b Mark Sickles\u200c introduced<\/a> HB 1177<\/a>, which seeks to require<\/a> \u2063the\u200c state\u2019s elections commissioner to rejoin ERIC by\u2062 filing\u200d \u201can application for the Commonwealth\u2019s \u200dmembership\u201d \u2063with the\u200c group.\u2063 The bill furthermore requires the state to \u201cpromptly execute \u200bany membership agreement and pay any membership fees required\u201d once its ERIC membership is approved and \u2062\u201ctake any steps \u2064necessary\u201d\u2064 to maintain its standing \u200dwith\u2064 the\u2062 program.<\/p>\n
A similar\u2063 bill \u2062was also introduced \u200blast year by Democrats in \u200b California<\/a>, which is not a member of ERIC<\/a>. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, \u2064New York Democrats are close to mandating that\u2064 their state join a \u201cmultistate voter list maintenance organization\u201d\u2063 like \u200bERIC, \u200cwhich the bill\u200b notes<\/a> by name. S6173B<\/a> has already passed the Senate and is currently awaiting committee\u2064 action in the state Assembly. \u2064 <\/p>\n
Similar bills in other states are receiving \u200bsupport\u2064 from Republican lawmakers. In Kansas, the\u2062 GOP-controlled House Committee on Elections introduced a measure<\/a> (HB 2116) earlier this\u200c month that would \u200brequire the\u2064 Sunflower State to join ERIC. The bill was introduced at the request of Rep. Paul Waggoner, \u2063a Republican. <\/p>\n
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Meanwhile, \u200dRepublican Rep. Ralph Boehm joined\u200b his Democrat colleagues \u2063in co-sponsoring legislation<\/a> (HB 1557) forcing New Hampshire to join ERIC. Neither Kansas nor New Hampshire \u2063are currently members of the program. <\/p>\n
The Truth About ERIC<\/h2>\n
So-called \u201cjournalists\u201d who dismiss criticisms of\u200b ERIC as \u201cconspiracy theories\u201d pushed by \u201cMAGA Republicans\u201d refuse to acknowledge another of the organization\u2019s red flags: its\u200d ties to the Center for Election Innovation\u200c and Research (CEIR<\/a>), a\u2064 Becker-founded nonprofit responsible for interfering in the 2020 election to\u2063 help Democrats.<\/p>\n
Leading up \u2062to the 2020 contest, CEIR and the Center\u2062 for Tech and Civic Life<\/a> collectively received hundreds of\u200c millions of dollars from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. These \u201cZuckbucks\u201d were then\u2062 dumped into local election \u2064offices across the country to\u2064 advance insecure, Democrat-backed voting policies, such as mass mail-in voting and the widespread\u2062 use of ballot drop boxes. Analyses<\/a> have shown these grants were heavily skewed toward Democrat municipalities, especially in swing states, effectively making it a giant Democrat get-out-the-vote operation.<\/p>\n
As The Federalist previously reported<\/a> and communication records<\/a> have shown, CEIR enjoys a transactional relationship with ERIC, which submits the voter-roll data it receives from\u200c states to CEIR. Upon<\/a> receiving this information, CEIR curates \u201ctargeted \u2064mailing lists and sends them back to\u200b the states to use for voter\u2063 registration outreach.\u201d In other words, CEIR \u2014\u200b an organization\u2063 engaged in highly partisan, left-wing activism \u2014 is \u200cdeveloping \u200blists of potential (and likely Democrat)\u200d voters for states to register in \u2062the lead-up to major elections.<\/p>\n
Contrary to\u200b the narrative pushed \u2062by corporate media and other Democrats, ERIC \u2063is not\u200b a \u201cnonpartisan\u201d\u2064 venture simply \u2062helping states clean up their voter \u200drolls. It\u2019s a program designed to \u200cjuice voter rolls and strengthen Democrats\u2019 electioneering machine. The \u200cfact that Democrats are the ones primarily backing these laws should tell Republicans supporting similar proposals everything they need to know about just how partisan ERIC really is. <\/p>\n
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rnrn <\/p>\n
\u200d What concerns\u200d have been raised regarding \u2064the focus of ERIC on registering new voters rather than cleaning up existing voter rolls?<\/h2>\n
Title:\u200c The Controversy Surrounding the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC)<\/p>\n
Introduction<\/p>\n
The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), founded\u2063 in 2012 by \u200dleft-wing activist David Becker, claims to be\u2064 a nonpartisan initiative aimed at assisting states in cleaning their voter rolls. However, recent developments have raised questions about its true nature and purpose. Primarily composed of Democrat lawmakers,\u2062 ERIC \u200dhas faced\u2062 criticism \u200bfor its biased \u200dapproach and controversial ties to partisan organizations. This article explores the concerns\u2063 surrounding ERIC\u200d and its impact on state voter registration processes.<\/p>\n
ERIC’s Membership and Voter\u200c Roll\u200c Management<\/p>\n
ERIC presents itself as a voter \u200droll \u200cmanagement system\u200d that enables states to update and \u200bimprove their voter rolls efficiently. However, closer examination reveals that ERIC prioritizes registering new voters over cleaning up existing voter rolls. To join ERIC, states are required to submit their\u200d active and inactive voter files, motor vehicle database records, and other \u2064voter registration-related files. ERIC then compares\u2064 this\u200b data\u2062 with that of other member states to compile updated voter-roll information.<\/p>\n
Despite its claims\u2063 to facilitate\u200b voter list maintenance, ERIC only \u200cmandates \u200dstates to engage in this process after independently validating \u200bthe data received \u2063from the organization. This means that if a state fails to validate ERIC’s data, it\u2063 is not obliged to clean its voter rolls. These concerns indicate that ERIC’s focus lies \u200dmore on inflating voter \u2062rolls rather than ensuring their accuracy and integrity.<\/p>\n
Departures from ERIC<\/p>\n
Given the concerns surrounding ERIC and its\u2063 lack of commitment to\u2063 maintaining accurate\u2064 voter rolls, \u2063several GOP-led states have withdrawn \u200dfrom the program in recent years. States like \u200bFlorida, Ohio, Iowa, Virginia, and others have ended their association with ERIC. Instead, they\u2064 have formed \u2062separate interstate voter data-sharing \u2064pacts to perform functions previously handled by ERIC. These decisions reflect the growing distrust and dissatisfaction among states regarding\u2064 ERIC’s operations.<\/p>\n
Forced Relationships: Democrat Legislators’ Response<\/p>\n
Despite ERIC\u200b losing support \u2062from \u200dcertain states, Democrat lawmakers have attempted to counterbalance these departures by\u200d introducing legislation in their respective states. In Virginia, Democrat Del. Mark Sickles introduced HB 1177, which seeks to mandate the state’s elections commissioner to rejoin ERIC. A similar bill \u2063was introduced by California Democrats, even though the state is not currently a \u200bmember of ERIC. In\u2062 New York, Democrats are close to \u2062passing a bill that would require the\u2063 state to join a multistate voter list \u200cmaintenance organization like ERIC.<\/p>\n
Support\u200c from Republican Lawmakers<\/p>\n
Interestingly,\u200c Republican lawmakers in various states have shown support for joining ERIC. In Kansas, a GOP-controlled House Committee on Elections introduced a measure (HB 2116) \u200cthat would require the state to join ERIC.\u200d Similarly, in New Hampshire, Republican Rep. Ralph Boehm co-sponsored legislation (HB 1557) to compel the state to join ERIC. These instances challenge\u200b the notion \u200bthat concerns about ERIC are purely partisan and indicate\u200b that skepticism exists across party lines.<\/p>\n
The Controversial Ties of ERIC<\/p>\n
ERIC’s connections to the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR) raise additional concerns. CEIR, founded by David Becker, was involved in interfering in the 2020 \u2063election to support Democrats. It received considerable funding from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, which was used\u200c to support Democrat-backed voting policies such as mass mail-in voting and ballot drop boxes. These ties raise questions about the neutrality and\u200d objectivity of ERIC in its operations.<\/p>\n
Conclusion<\/p>\n
The controversy surrounding ERIC brings\u200d into question its claims of being\u2063 a nonpartisan initiative. The prioritization of registering new voters over cleaning up existing voter rolls, as well as its ties to partisan organizations, have fueled skepticism and prompted several states to withdraw from the program. The introduction of legislation by Democrat lawmakers to force states to rejoin ERIC has further escalated\u200c the \u2062debate. \u200cAs the debate\u200b surrounding ERIC intensifies, it is crucial for the integrity of the electoral process that states make informed decisions about their voter registration systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Democrats and their media allies assert that ERIC, the Electronic Registration Information Center, is a nonpartisan initiative aiding in the purification of state voter rolls. However, predominantly Democrat lawmakers resort to pressuring state election officials to participate. ERIC was established in 2012 by a far-left activist<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2163623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/29192920094_77802b2638_k.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2163622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/29192920094_77802b2638_k.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2163622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2163622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2163623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2163622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2163622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2163622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}