State Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg has filed legislation that would direct Virginia to rejoin the Electronic Registration Information Center — or ERIC, a multistate voter data consortium the commonwealth withdrew from in 2023.
“The legislature should demand that Virginia be in an organization that is part of the … safest and most secure way of keeping our voter list up to date,” the Democrat said while discussing his proposal.
In a 2023 letter describing the state’s intent to withdraw from the program, Susan Beals, commissioner of the Virginia Department of Elections, cited “viable alternatives” and “incomplete participation” of neighboring states, among reasons for the decision.
Nine Republican-led states, including Virginia, have exited the consortium, which was founded in 2012. Today, the partnership shares voter registration and motor vehicle department data among 26 states and Washington D.C. in an effort to ensure legal and accurate voter registration. ERIC also has access to Social Security Administration information and change-of-address data from the U.S. Postal Service.
In 2024, VanValkenburg filed a bill to rejoin the partnership. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed that proposal, writing the departure “was a result of persistent management issues, improper data use, escalating costs, and the inability to meet statutory requirements for border state information sharing.”
VanValkenberg said he expected the bill to fail in 2024, though with Democrats in the majority and Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger ready to take office, his current proposal could have an easier path to being implemented.
A Youngkin spokesperson said since the commonwealth withdrew, Virginia’s made a number of “one-to-one data sharing agreements” that include five states that are current ERIC members.
“While ERIC has made some positive changes, it still lacks transparency and incurs a cost on member states, unlike the data sharing agreements we have developed directly with other states,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.
The state elections department posts annual updates going back to 2013 that detail maintenance of its voter registration list. Between Sept. 1, 2023, and Aug. 31, 2024 — the first 12-month record after Virginia left the partnership — 261,985 voters were removed from the rolls. That’s about 83,000 fewer cancellations than reported during the previous cycle. Cancellations increased to 340,427 the following year.
VanValkenberg said he wasn’t surprised by the data.
“Essentially, the Department of Elections is doing more work to get worse results,” he said about the state’s current one-to-one data agreements.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.