West Virginia Among 3 States to Withdraw From Voter Data Organization

March 16, 2023

Mountaineer News

West Virginia Elections

(Mountaineer News) - On March 6, West Virginia, Missouri, and Florida withdrew from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC).

West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner (R) expressed disappointment that an organization that was founded on the principle of nonpartisanship would allow partisanship to derail its commitment to upholding public confidence. Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) stated that the state was pulling out because ERIC did not mandate member states to take part in addressing multi-state voter fraud.

ERIC Executive Director Shane Hamlin clarified that ERIC is never linked to any state's voter registration system, and member states retain complete control over their voter rolls. Hamlin added that ERIC follows widely accepted security protocols for handling the data used to generate reports.

This development follows similar withdrawals by Alabama and Louisiana in January of 2023 and 2022, respectively. ERIC is a non-profit organization that consists of member-states sharing information such as voter registration and motor vehicle registration records to enhance the accuracy of each state's voter rolls. Currently, 28 states and Washington, D.C. remain members of ERIC.