Two more Republican states abruptly withdraw from interstate voter list programs

The exodus of Republican officials from this once uncontroversial group has been described by some prominent Republicans (especially former President Donald Trump) as a liberal conspiracy to control county voter numbers. It happens when you say it wrong and attack it openly. Most of the exiting states have not refuted Trump’s claims, citing disagreements over the organization’s governance instead, but ERIC’s defenders say their complaints are just a facade to leave the organization. There is

But the bottom line is that these Republican-led states have turned against the organizations they once hailed as the solution to curbing voter fraud.

The state’s decision to withdraw from the partnership was made shortly after the ERIC board meeting on Friday. There, Member States voted on important changes to the organization’s governance.

That meeting resolved one issue, the role of non-voting members within the organization, but became a stalemate over disagreements over what members could do with the data collected and disseminated by ERIC. rice field.

Broadly speaking, ERIC helps organizations maintain voter rolls by issuing reports on voters who may have moved within a state or between member states, died, or voted in two different states. and members should use that information to maintain the list. ERIC also creates data on people who may be eligible to register but have not, and requires states to contact those potential voters.

Some Republican election officials consider the latter requirement in particular unnecessary and a waste of resources. LaRose had previously proposed changing her ERIC so that states could choose to use ERIC data “a la carte.” This means that Member States can pick and choose what they want to do with the data generated by the organization. That’s because I failed at the meeting on Friday. His second ballot, which ties the requirement to contact potential eligible voters to a report to help states uncover cases of double voting, also failed.

Both proposals received majority votes, with the latter having more supporters. However, ERIC Bylaws require that his 80% of members agree to the change.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said Friday’s failure to vote “does not allow each member to do what is best for their respective states.”

“Ultimately, several key state exits and today’s vote will affect ERIC’s ability to be an effective tool for Iowa,” he said. “My office recommends leaving ERIC.”

Other states may follow. At a legislative hearing earlier this month, Alaska election officials said the state: may leave the organizationmeanwhile, the Texas Secretary of State is taking public steps to prepare to resign if the state drops out. Laws Pending in Texas I will do that much. )

A spokeswoman for the Texas secretary of state did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. A spokesperson for the Alaska Lieutenant Governor’s Office — the state’s chief elections officer — did not immediately comment on Friday’s meeting.

Simon, a Minnesota Democrat, told POLITICO that he and other ERIC supporters reached out to Republican-led states Friday afternoon, urging them to maintain partnerships and continue negotiations. rice field.

“I would urge any state disappointed with today’s Board result to hit the pause button,” he said in an interview.

Not all Republican-led states are considering leaving. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Ravensperger was a vocal advocate for ERIC last month, after his office removed a non-voting position from the group’s board after a vote at a meeting on Friday. I want the state to remain in the organization.

Gabriel Sterling, a senior Georgia Secretary of State official, tweeted shortly after the meeting.

Utah Lieutenant Government Her state’s chief Republican election officer, Deidre Henderson, also voiced support for ERIC on Friday. “As a founding member, ERIC has served Utah and its member nations well,” she said in a statement to POLITICO, calling for “compromise between Republican and Democratic member nations.”

“I hope we can find a path to retain and attract members,” she added.

And crucially, South Carolina — the state some members were concerned about after Friday’s meeting — said it had no intention of leaving.

“South Carolina currently has no plans to leave ERIC,” John Michael Catalano, a spokesperson for the South Carolina Election Commission, said in an email. “Despite its flaws, ERIC remains a valuable and (currently) irreplaceable tool for enabling states to exclude unqualified voters from voter registers.”

The remaining members lamented the organization’s departure, with some saying that leaving the state from ERIC would make the organization’s data worse for everyone.

Others lamented the resignation as a bad sign of a culture of cooperation around the election. said it is an important part of the “backbone” of

“What we’re seeing is a product of disinformation,” she said in an interview on Friday.