Florida backs out of Electronic Registration Information Center, cites data privacy, partisanship concerns

by | Mar 6, 2023



  • Florida has withdrawn from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a public charity non-profit membership organization that assists states in improving the accuracy of voter rolls and increasing access to voter registration for all eligible citizens.
  • The Department of State asserted that the withdrawal follows efforts over the past year to reform ERIC through attempts to secure data and eliminate ERIC’s “partisan tendencies,” though the agency was not clear as to what the tendencies were.
  • Florida, West Virginia, and Missouri have now backed out of the corporation agreement, citing data privacy concerns.

The state of Florida withdrew from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) on Monday, according to Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd, over concerns relating to data privacy and partisanship.

The Department of State asserted that the withdrawal follows efforts over the past year to reform ERIC through attempts to secure data and eliminate ERIC’s “partisan tendencies,” though the agency was not clear as to what the tendencies were. An inquiry seeking clarification was not immediately answered.

According to the department, withdrawing from ERIC will “ensure the data privacy of Florida voters is protected,” as Florida joins Missouri and West Virginia in backing out of the corporation agreement.

“As Secretary of State, I have an obligation to protect the personal information of Florida’s citizens, which the ERIC agreement requires us to share,” said Byrd. “Florida has tried to back reforms to increase protections, but these protections were refused. Therefore, we have lost confidence in ERIC.”

As per its website, ERIC is a public charity non-profit membership organization comprised of 29 states (taking into account Florida, West Virginia, and Missouri’s leave) and the District of Columbia. ERIC assists states in improving the accuracy of voter rolls and increasing access to voter registration for all eligible citizens.

State election officials from Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, Utah, Virginia, and Washington formed ERIC in 2012 with assistance from The Pew Charitable Trusts.

In 2022, a working group of ERIC member states, including Florida, was formed and proposed changes to the ERIC Membership agreement. The reforms would have eliminated concerns shared by the state regarding ERIC’s potential partisan leanings, and made the information shared with ERIC more secure. The Department of State stated that Florida backed the working group’s proposals relating to increased protections for confidential voter information and limiting the power of ex-officio partisan members of the ERIC board.

Every 60 days, each ERIC member submits their voter registration data and licensing and identification data from motor vehicle departments. The organization’s technical staff then compares member data from all affiliated states to create reports that identify voters who have moved from one ERIC state to another, voters with duplicate registrations in the same state, and voters who have died.

This is a developing story. 

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