What Happened to ERIC?
On March 6, 2023, Louisiana’s Secretary of State, Kyle Ardoin, made an official statement about three other states withdrawing from the Electronic Registration Information Center, also known as the ERIC; Louisiana had previously started withdrawing from the ERIC back in January 2022. The ERIC was started back in 2012 to help states maintain an accurate list of voters, and it works by comparing states’ lists to other lists from places like the DMV and the postal service. According to the ERIC’s website, “The seven states that pioneered the formation of ERIC in 2012 are: Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.”
There are countless theories about stolen or inaccurate elections, and the ERIC seems like a helpful tool for states to at least make sure they have an accurate voting list. However, recently people have begun to question states’ involvement with the ERIC. In fact, according to Miles Parks, an NPR correspondent who writes about elections and voting, “On Jan. 20, the far-right blog The Gateway Pundit published the first of a number of articles about the program, falsely implying it is part of a left-wing election conspiracy” and only a couple days later “Louisiana withdrew its membership, becoming the first state since ERIC's founding to do so.”
How exactly are Louisiana leaders planning on keeping their voting lists up to date without the ERIC? The answer to that is unclear. Perhaps the states that have withdrawn will form their own tool to help with voting lists, but nothing has been officially announced so far. Given that local elections are still ongoing and the presidential election is getting closer and closer, hopefully, the states that left the ERIC will start developing something to help them have accurate lists. But Parks pointed out that “election officials from across the political spectrum have told NPR that it is essentially impossible to replicate what ERIC does.”
Despite this uncertainty about accurate voting lists, Louisiana does have an upcoming election on March 25. Early voting is happening right now and will end on March 18. So make a plan to vote! Voting is still one of the ways you can express your opinion and make your voice heard.