Texas Initiates Exit from Multistate Voter List Program ERIC

A poll worker stamps a voters ballot before dropping it into a secure box at a ballot drop off location in Texas on Oct. 13, 2020. (Sergio Flores/Getty Images)

The Texas secretary of state began the process of the state’s resignation Thursday from the Electronic Registration Registration Information Center, also known as ERIC, an interstate tool used to help keep voter rolls clean.

“Texas submitted a letter to ERIC giving notice that the state would withdraw from the program,” said Secretary of State spokeswoman Alicia Pierce in an email to The Epoch Times (pdf).

Texas is the largest and most populous state to leave the non-profit organization that was created in 2012 and is composed of member states that share voter information.

Shane Hamlin, ERIC’s executive director, told Politico in a statement that the organization “will follow our Bylaws and Membership Agreement regarding any member’s request to resign membership.

The withdrawal follows a push from Republican leaders who supported Senate Bill 1070 to stop using the voter registration program.

“As fewer states participated in ERIC, the costs were set to increase. Texas would be paying more for less data. Additionally, the passage of SB 1070 set up that the state would not be able to stay in ERIC long-term,” Ms. Pierce wrote.

In March, Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced structural changes to the state’s elections division, signaling the state’s upcoming plans to leave the coalition.

“Keith Ingram, the current Director of the Elections Divisions, will serve in a newly-created position to develop and manage an interstate voter registration crosscheck program to comply with Section 18.062 of the Texas Election Code,” said the press release dated March 10.

Earlier this week, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill that called for the withdrawal from ERIC.

The legislation, authored by state Sen. Bryan Hughes (R), calls on the secretary of state to design the state’s own multistate cross-check program or to “identify and contract with a private sector data system.”

If the secretary of state utilizes a private sector system, the law would require each employee of a potential vendor to undergo a background check, and the data used must come from the National Change of Address Database (pdf).

The new law will be in effect by the time the withdrawal from ERIC is complete.

“There is no immediate plan to join another system, but we continue to research options,” Ms. Pierce said.

It is not immediately clear whether or not the state is in the process of developing its own system. The Epoch Times has reached out to the Secretary of State’s office for clarification.

The cost of the state’s new system is not to exceed $100,000.

Other States’ Withdrawals

Texas is one of nine GOP-led states to resign from the organization over the last 18 months. It joins Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia in leaving the program.

ERIC membership has dropped from 33 states, plus Washington, D.C., in 2022 to 24 states, plus Washington, D.C., following the announcement of Texas’ exit.

“We will continue our work on behalf of our remaining member states in improving the accuracy of America’s voter rolls and increasing access to voter registration for all eligible citizens,” Hamlin told Politico.

No Democratic states have departed the organization since 2021. GOP-led Georgia and Utah have remained members.