Thursday, June 5, 2023
On Monday, Texas lawmakers officially approved Senate Bill 1070, positioning Texas to become the largest state to break ties with the Electric Registration Information Center (ERIC). All that is left is the go ahead from Governor Greg Abbott.
Texas is not the first state to end their relationship with the bipartisan interstate voter program. On May 11, Virginia backed out of their ERIC partnership and, back in March, Ohio, Iowa, Florida, Missouri, and West Virginia pulled out as well.
"I cannot justify the use of Ohio's tax dollars for an organization that seems intent on rejecting meaningful accountability, publicly maligning my motives, and waging a relentless campaign of misinformation about this effort," said Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose following his announcement to withdraw.
ERIC is a multi-state partnership that rose to prominence for their ability to provide the only reliable, secure way for states to share voter registration data with each other. The downfall of ERIC followed growing speculations that the organization was part of a liberal conspiracy, spearheaded by billionaire George Soros and an ERIC founder, David Becker, to steal elections.
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​Texas Senate Bill 1070 was introduced despite the claims from Keith Ingram, the elections director for the secretary of state's office, that ERIC is the only way to verify whether a voter is not registered or voting in more than one state at a time.
"Now, there is no evidence that ERIC is doing anything to Texas voter rolls, I want to be clear about that," said State Senator Bryan Hughes. "But we do know, again, that the people running ERIC don't share our worldview."
What do you think about Texas' breakup with ERIC? Let us know by taking our brief survey here!