Following the lead of other Republican-led states, Virginia announced on Thursday it would be withdrawing from the leftist-controlled voter roll management group known as ERIC.
In a letter obtained by The Virginia Mercury, Virginia Elections Commissioner Susan Beals informed the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, that the commonwealth will no longer be a participant in the program, citing concerns about the “confidentiality of voter information” and “controversy surrounding the historical sharing of data with outside organizations leveraged for political purposes.”
As The Federalist previously reported, ERIC is a widely used voter-roll management organization founded by Democrat activist David Becker that was “sold to states as a quick and easy way to update their voter rolls.” In actuality, ERIC inflates voter rolls by requiring member states to contact eligible but unregistered residents to register to vote.
“In short, ERIC’s mandate has expanded beyond that of its initial intent — to improve the accuracy of voter rolls,” Beals reportedly wrote. “We will pursue other information arrangements with our neighboring states and look to other opportunities to partner with states in an apolitical fashion.”
Notably, Virginia was one of the seven states to found ERIC in 2012.
In addition to founding ERIC, Becker is also the founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR), which, along with the Center for Tech and Civic Life, received hundreds of millions of dollars from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg leading up to the 2020 election. These grants were poured into local election offices throughout the country to push sloppy Democrat-backed voting policies, such as mass mail-in voting and the widespread use of ballot drop boxes.
Analyses have shown these “Zuckbucks” were heavily skewed toward Democrat municipalities, especially in swing states, effectively making it a giant Democrat get-out-the-vote operation.
CEIR’s interference in the electoral process isn’t exclusive to the 2020 election, however. As The Federalist previously reported, CEIR enjoys an active relationship with ERIC, which transmits the voter-roll data it receives from states to CEIR. Upon receiving the data, CEIR “then develops targeted mailing lists and sends them back to the states to use for voter registration outreach.” In other words, CEIR — a highly partisan nonprofit with a history of left-wing activism — is creating lists of potential (and likely Democrat) voters for states to register in the lead-up to major elections.
Virginia is just the latest in a string of Republican-led states to depart from ERIC in recent months. West Virginia, Florida, Missouri, Ohio, and Iowa all announced they were leaving ERIC in March. Alabama and Louisiana announced their respective departures last year.
Shawn Fleetwood is a Staff Writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He also serves as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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