Five Republican-led states have quit a bipartisan organization designed to fight voter fraud.
(Bloomberg) — Five Republican-led states have quit a bipartisan organization designed to fight voter fraud.
Officials in Florida, Missouri and West Virginia announced Monday that they will pull out of the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, a multi-state partnership that helps states cross-check voter rolls and DMV records and remove voters who died or moved away.
Alabama and Louisiana announced they would leave earlier this year.
ERIC has long been considered a bipartisan success. In a January report, the Florida state Office of Election Crimes and Security cited data from ERIC for helping it identify more than a thousand voters who may have cast ballots in more than one state, including some cases that have already been referred for criminal prosecution.
But in recent months, it has become the subject of intense criticism from election deniers. Former President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social account that “all Republican governors should immediately pull out of ERIC,” claiming without evidence that the group “pumps the rolls” for Democrats.
Shane Hamlin, executive director of ERIC, said in a recent open letter that the organization is facing a spate of “misinformation” about how it’s run.
But Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said he had lost confidence in the organization after the board declined to make changes requested by some Republican members to how it’s governed and how states can use the data. He cited a requirement that states notify new residents that they are eligible to register to vote.
“They’re more focused on trying to harass people who declined to register to vote,” he said.
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