Electronic Registration Information Center facts for kids
The Electric Registration Information Center (ERIC) is non-profit, organization in the United States that is operated and financed by state elections agencies and chief elections officials.
Operations
At least every 60 days, each ERIC state submits their voter registration data and motor vehicle licensing data to ERIC. ERIC's technical staff matches that data against data from all the other member states and Social Security death data. ERIC identifies voters who have moved, voters who have died, and voters with duplicate registrations within a state's database. States may also request National Change of Address (NCOA) reports using official data from the US Postal Service and, after federal general elections, participate in a fraud check to see if voters cast ballots in more than one state. ERIC also, by matching voter data against motor vehicle licensing data, identifies individuals who are not yet registered so election officials can provide information on how to register to vote.
States joining ERIC have agreed to pursue non-partisan and protective goals. Participating states are required to mail notifications to people identified as eligible to vote but not registered. Between 2012 and 2018, ERIC identified 26 million persons who were eligible to cast ballots but were not registered to vote, as well as 10 million registered voters who had moved, or who appeared on more than one list. Follow-up research in some states concluded that 10% to 20% of those contacted had later registered to vote, a high response rate for direct mailings. That rate suggests 2.6 million to 5.2 million of the 26 million people notified became voters. ERIC’s list maintenance reports help states improve the accuracy of their voter lists by identifying voters who have moved within the state, voters who have moved from one ERIC state to another, voters who have died, and voters with duplicate registrations in the state. ERIC's Membership Agreement requires each state to request and act on at least one of these reports at a minimum of once a year, though the ERIC Membership Agreement strongly encourages states to establish a regular schedule for requesting these reports. States must act on these reports in a manner that complies with applicable federal and state law. ERIC's website publishes statistics (https://ericstates.org/statistics/) on the number of deceased voters, in-state and out-of-state movers, and duplicate registrations that it has reported to member states.Some state administrators said determining a person's current domicile can present problems. Member states report that "false positives" are rare. Unopened returned mail—evidence of a wrong address—is substantially reduced.
History
States created ERIC to improve the accuracy of state voter registration rolls and boost access to voter registration for all American citizens. ERIC, with logistical and financial support from the Pew Charitable Trusts, was launched in 2012 by elections officials from seven states. Membership has grown to 30 states and the District of Columbia. The Pew Charitable Trusts, although integral to the creation of ERIC, now has no role with ERIC.
The seven states that created ERIC in 2012 were Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. By 2019, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin had joined the partnership, with Texas joining in March 2020 and Oklahoma adopting legislation to join in April, 2021. ERIC's matching software was developed by data scientist Jeff Jonas. In the 2020-2021 fiscal year, its budget was slightly more than $1 million.
Governance
Each jurisdiction has a member's seat on the ERIC Board of Directors. The Board has created an executive committee and advisory committees to assist with issues related to data security and research. Key responsibilities of the Board of Directors include approving the annual budget, setting annual membership dues, and a periodic review of ERIC's Information Security Plan and policies. ERIC is governed by bylaws and a membership agreement that each state must sign before joining.
