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OGDEN — As confidence in the integrity of the election system wanes among some, Republicans in Weber and Davis counties are taking aim at a national nonprofit organization that helps Utah and many other states maintain their voter rolls and prevent fraud.
Identical resolutions to be considered Saturday by Republican leaders in the two northern Utah counties call on the state to drop out of a national nonprofit group, the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC. They also want Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes to investigate the group, which currently helps 24 states and Washington, D.C., keep voter lists up to date.
Sponsors of the respective resolutions to be considered by officials in the Weber County and Davis County Republican parties didn't respond to KSL.com queries seeking comment. The resolutions, though, while not identifying any specific instances of mishandling of voter information, raise the possibility of it happening.
One of the preambulatory clauses in each of the resolutions notes, in the past two years, "nine Republican-led states have resigned from ERIC because of suspect practices that do little to protect the integrity of voter rolls." Texas left the group last July, according to the Associated Press, joining Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, West Virginia, Missouri, Ohio, Iowa and Virginia.
The resolutions further charge that sharing of driver's license data by states with ERIC violates the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act and maintain that ERIC's leadership structure "provides no accountability to the public," among other things.
Otto Krauss is the chief sponsor of the measure to be considered by the Weber County Republican Party on Saturday, while Teena Horlacher is backing the measure in Davis County.
Officials from the Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office, which oversees elections in Utah, didn't immediately respond to queries seeking comment. In an online informational sheet, though, the office alluded to the issues some have raised about ERIC and explained its decision to keep working with the organization. Utah paid $49,084 to ERIC in annual membership fees, according to the informational sheet released in late 2023 or early 2024.
I think election integrity is at the forefront of our priorities at the moment.
– Jackson Wing, Weber County Republican Party chairman
"Several states, mostly Republican-leaning, have recently left ERIC over concerns about nonvoting (ex-officio) board members, the need for audits and required EBU mailings. These states chose to leave ERIC, while Utah has remained a member and worked for change from within because of the overriding value that we see from this organization," the lieutenant governor's office said. EBU lists, which stands for eligible but unregistered, identify voters who are potentially eligible to vote but remain unregistered, and ERIC-member states are required to provide them with information on how to register, though, Utah has an exemption from the rule.
ERIC compares voter registration and motor vehicle department data of residents in member states to identify people who have moved, those who have died and others with duplicate voter registrations — all in a bid to keep voter lists up to date and accurate. Since 2013, the system has helped Utah identify 675,026 records requiring review and updating, according to the Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office.
In response to "misinformation" about ERIC, ERIC Executive Director Shane Hamlin issued an open letter last year about the organization. The organization, he said, uses "widely accepted security protocols" in handling data, one of the concerns of critics.
States use the reports ERIC formulates "to update their voter rolls, remove ineligible voters, investigate potential illegal voting or provide voter registration information to individuals who may be eligible to vote," Hamlin said. "ERIC is never connected to any state's voter registration system. Members retain complete control over their voter rolls and they use the reports we provide in ways that comply with federal and state laws."
The resolutions don't allude to the electoral suspicions among some Republicans stemming from the false claims of former President Donald Trump, a Republican, and his adherents that Trump lost the 2020 election due to fraud. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll last year found that only 22% of GOPers have "high confidence" that votes in this year's presidential election will be accurately counted versus 71% of Democrats.
Broadly speaking, though, Weber County Republican Party Chairman Jackson Wing said elections are at the top of mind of many. "I think election integrity is at the forefront of our priorities at the moment," he said, without delving into particulars of the Weber County resolution.
Davis County Republican Party Chairman Yemi Arunsi deferred comment on the ERIC resolution. "I stay neutral on it," he said.
Aside from the resolutions, Republicans in Weber and Davis counties will also weigh in at their conventions on Saturday on some of the Republican candidates hoping to get on the ballot this year for varied posts.
