Louisiana walks first

In January 2022, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin told an election integrity group that his state was leaving ERIC. It was the opening move in a red-state exodus.

The strange part

ERIC was the single organization best equipped to do what Republicans said they wanted: keep voter rolls clean and flag illegal votes.

Built by both parties

Election officials from seven states, four red and three blue, founded the nonpartisan nonprofit in 2012 to bulletproof their voting processes.

How it actually works

Member states send voter and vehicle registration data through secure channels so records can be cross-referenced. People move, die, turn 18, gain or lose rights constantly.

What it catches

ERIC finds duplicate registrations, dead voters, and eligible people who never registered. After national elections it flags signs of double voting across or within states.

“These are all laudable, uncontroversial goals that have made our voter registration rolls more accurate”

It was winning

By early 2022 ERIC had 31 member states plus DC, with more Republican-run states than Democratic-run ones. Alabama's former secretary of state says its integrity was never in question.

“Its integrity has been intact from its creation”

Alabama slams the door

In January 2023, Wes Allen withdrew Alabama as his first official act, citing worries about sending citizens' private data out of state.

The lies that did it

Officials repeated baseless claims, including that George Soros funded ERIC. Trump told every Republican governor to pull out, calling it a system that pumps the rolls for Democrats.

“Conspiracy theorists targeted ERIC. Apparently, it was working too well for them”

Knowing it was false

Florida, Missouri, West Virginia, Iowa, Ohio, Virginia and Texas followed. Some announced voter fraud prosecutions within days of leaving, cases that came only from ERIC data.

“succumbed to that disinformation, even as they admitted that they knew it was false”

The numbers collapsed

In 2022 ERIC flagged 2.4 million interstate moves, 203,210 duplicates and 65,437 dead voters. Four years later: about 604,000 moves, 61,000 duplicates, 17,000 dead.

The registration clause

Members must use ERIC's Eligible but Unregistered report to send voter registration information to people it identifies. That obligation is part of why some red states soured.

A tool, not an agenda

John Merrill says he was called a liberal for defending ERIC. He used it the way he used Kansas Crosscheck, to run better elections in Alabama.

“I never saw an agenda. I used ERIC as a tool”

Now the feds want the lists

Trump's DOJ has sued 30 states for voter rolls and lost all 23 decided cases, while moving to disrupt mail ballot delivery in states that refuse.

“I don't think there are five justices who want to own the chaos that would ensue”