How Florida is Making Voting Less Secure
Based on his public statements, most people would think that Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd is serious about protecting elections in his state. Regardless of the fact that voter fraud is virtually non-existent in modern American elections, Florida’s top election official has sought to double the size of his department’s election crimes investigation unit and make it harder for voters to request a mail-in ballot.
The reality, however, couldn’t be further from the truth.
Last month, Secretary Byrd, along with election officials in Missouri and West Virginia, withdrew from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) voter database. This little-known non-profit organization was launched in 2012 to help states ensure the accuracy of their voter rolls and improve voter registration efforts across the country. Every 60 days, member states submit their voter registration data to ERIC, which the organization then compares again Social Security and Post Office data to identify voters who have moved, registered in a new state, or died. ERIC then notifies the applicable election office to review the voter’s registration. Over the last decade, ERIC has helped states identify and remove more than half a million voters who have died from their voter rolls and Alabama’s Republican Secretary of State has noted that ERIC is the only way to prevent voters from casting ballots in multiple states.
Following federal elections, ERIC also assists with audits to ensure that one person didn’t vote in multiple states. These efforts not only maintain the integrity of our elections, but also reduce cost by helping states and counties predict the number of votes that will be cast in an election. States which participate in ERIC have reported a substantial reduction in election-related mail returned unopened by the post office, which frequently happens after a voter has died or moved.
ERIC relies on the data submitted by participating states. Not only have Florida, Missouri, and West Virginia lost access to this extremely effective tool to prevent double voting by their voters, but the other states which utilize ERIC will no longer be notified when one of their voters registers to vote in those states. In 2022, 34 states, including Alaska, Texas, Utah, Ohio, Massachusetts, Virginia, Colorado, and Minnesota, all participated in ERIC. Today, only 27 states and the District of Columbia are members, reducing the quality of the data it is able to share.
Much like their claims of rampant fraud and “stolen” elections, official’s criticisms of ERIC have little bearing on reality. Critics have claimed that ERIC is a George Soros funded organization secretly working to take over voter rolls. The truth is that ERIC was initially founded with support from Pew Charitable Trusts, a non-profit dedicated to “improving public policy, informing the public, and invigorating civic life” which Mr. Soros, along with many, many others, has donated money to. Today ERIC is funded by dues paid by member states. The organization has never received money directly from Mr. Soros.
If Secretary Byrd wants to walk the walk, not just talk the talk, on election security, he, together with leaders in Missouri and West Virginia, should immediately rejoin ERIC. One person, one vote is a cornerstone principle of our democratic system of government and ERIC is not just the best, but the only, way to ensure voters are only cast one ballot in an election.
Nicholas Monck served as the Deputy Director for Voter Protection for the Colorado Democratic Party in 2018 and Boulder County Democratic Party Legal Team Co-Lead from 2017–2019. Opinions expressed are his own and do not represent the views of his employer.
