Membership in ERIC Obligates Utah to Violate Election Laws!
The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC)
Under Utah law, we don’t need ERIC because county clerks are already required to:
- Obligates Utah to violate the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (18 USC § 2721), which prohibits DMV data from disclosure to 3rd parties.
- Obligates Utah to violate the public disclosure provision of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) (52 USC § 20507(i)(1)); by requiring a court order to share data.
- Obligates Utah to violate the NVRA (52 USC § 21083) by outsourcing voter registration list maintenance to a third party and violates 52 USC § 20504(c)(2)(D)(ii) which states that “The fact that the applicant has declined to register will remain confidential.”
Under Utah law, we don’t need ERIC because county clerks are already required to:
- Remove deceased voters within 10 business days of receipt from the Lt. Governor (Utah Code 20A-2-504(3)),
- Perform checks for and remove duplicate voters and voters who are registered in another state (Utah Code 20A-2-503(4))
- Verify the identity of each voter at time of registration (Utah Code 20-A-503(1)
Why are we allowing our elected officials to break the law and use taxpayer money to do so?
Vote YES to put our elected officials on notice!
Vote YES to put our elected officials on notice!
Read the Resolution up for a vote at Convention Saturday
Resolution to Terminate Utah’s Membership in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC)
Whereas, the Utah Republican Party platform states that the proper function of government is to protect unalienable, God-given rights of life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness; and
Whereas, the integrity of voter rolls is a fundamental component of valid elections essential to uphold these unalienable rights declared in the platform; and
Whereas, the Electronic Registration Information Center (hereafter, ERIC), a 501(c)(3) organization which has 24 states and the District of Columbia as members, has stated that its “sole mission [is] assisting states to improve the accuracy of America’s voter rolls and increase access to voter registration for all eligible citizens,”; and
Whereas, ERIC is a non-governmental (NGO), non-profit corporation organized and operating outside the State of Utah;
Whereas, the entity structure of ERIC provides no accountability to the public as to its actions, although the actions or non-actions of ERIC and its Board of Directors have the potential to profoundly impact each legally-registered voter’s vote cast; and
Whereas, membership in ERIC, obligates the State of Utah to share every registered voter’s personally identifiable information (PII) as well as PII from the Department of Motor Vehicles in violation of the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (18 USC § 2721), which prohibits DMV data from disclosure to 3rd parties; and
Whereas, sharing ERIC-generated data returned to the states by ERIC to any entity outside of the elections office requires both a court order and the approval of ERIC before the data sought is shared, in violation of the public disclosure provision of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) (52 USC § 20507(i)(1)); and
Whereas, ERIC provides data regarding possibly eligible citizens who are not registered to vote, stating that, “the Member shall, at a minimum, initiate contact with each and every eligible or possibly eligible citizen and inform them how to register to vote. Each Member shall … …initiate contact with at least 95% of the eligible or potentially eligible citizens on whom data was provided and address validation was performed”; and
Whereas, ERIC states in its membership agreement that “under no circumstances shall the member transmit an individual’s record where the record contains documentation or other information indicating that the individual is a non-citizen of the United States” yet, without that information ERIC is unable to identify a large portion of ineligible voters; and
Whereas, ERIC has violated the security of Utah registrants’ data by transmitting state data to third parties, such as the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR), whose data practices and usage are unknown to Utah and its citizens, and ERIC prohibits states from auditing its own work or that of any third-party vendor; and
Whereas, the Lieutenant Governor’s office (via Director of Elections Ryan Cowley) participates in ERIC as a board member representing Utah. The outsourcing of voter registration list maintenance to a third party violates the Vote Act (52 USC § 21083) which specifically states that “The appropriate State or local election official shall perform list maintenance with respect to the computerized list on a regular basis.” List maintenance by a third party also violates the NVRA, which states that “The fact that the applicant has declined to register will remain confidential.” (52 USC § 20504(c)(2)(D)(ii)); and
Whereas, ERIC was started with funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts (which in turn were funded by the Open Society Foundations of globalist George Soros) in 2012 under the leadership of David Becker (a regressive Democrat), who has used ERIC to collaborate with CEIR; and CEIR was one of the two leftist groups to use Mark Zuckerberg’s $419 million to fund the private takeover of government election offices in 2020 under the guise of “protecting elections due to COVID-19”;
Whereas, in the past two years nine Republican-led States have resigned from ERIC because of the organization’s suspect practices that do little to protect the integrity of voter rolls; and
Whereas, a 2022 investigation by Verity Vote revealed that states not participating in ERIC are more effective at identifying and removing voters who move out of a voting district than ERIC member states; and
Whereas, Under Utah law, county clerks must remove deceased voters within 10 business days of receipt from the Lt. Governor (Utah Code 20A-2-504(3)), perform checks for and remove duplicate voters and voters who are registered in another state (Utah Code 20A-2-503(4)) and verify the identity of each voter at time of registration (Utah Code 20-A-503(1)), thus negating the need for Utah’s membership in ERIC; and
Whereas, the delegates of the Weber County Republican Party assembled in Convention in 2024, have lost confidence in ERIC’s ability to be an effective and accurate source of voter roll data for maintaining accurate and up-to-date Utah voter rolls; and
Therefore, be it resolved that the Republican Party Convention of Weber County calls on Utah Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson, Director of Elections Ryan Cowley, and the Utah Legislature (by legislation if necessary) to immediately tender Utah’s resignation from ERIC and join with other states who have undertaken similar action;
Be it further resolved that the Republican Party Convention of Weber County calls on Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes to investigate ERIC, CEIR, and any other private NGOs that may have brokered Utah’s voter registration and DMV data for partisan benefit.
Upon passage the Weber County Republican Party Chair shall ensure a copy of this resolution is posted on the party website for not less than 2 years and emailed to CCC members of the County Party, GOP members of the Utah Legislature and elected members of the Executive Branch, including the Lt. Governor and Attorney General.
Sponsor: Otto Krauss (PLV05)
Co-sponsors:
Blair Brandenburg (OGD19), Bob McEntee (MSC01), Arnold Gaunt (OGD09), Brian Gray (PLV10), Brent Odenwalder (HPR12), Thomas Gooch (OGD33), Jennifer Pennington (NOG05), Bill Olson (NOG12), Cindy Aeschlimann (OGD02), David Bruner (PLV05), Suzanna Leland (CSU02), Daniel Badal (WAT02), Emily Beeli (OGD23), Joseph Kerry (OGD10), Jase Reyneveld (LEG9), Nancy Inman (ROY15), David Spackman (OGD02)
April 13th, 2024
Whereas, the integrity of voter rolls is a fundamental component of valid elections essential to uphold these unalienable rights declared in the platform; and
Whereas, the Electronic Registration Information Center (hereafter, ERIC), a 501(c)(3) organization which has 24 states and the District of Columbia as members, has stated that its “sole mission [is] assisting states to improve the accuracy of America’s voter rolls and increase access to voter registration for all eligible citizens,”; and
Whereas, ERIC is a non-governmental (NGO), non-profit corporation organized and operating outside the State of Utah;
Whereas, the entity structure of ERIC provides no accountability to the public as to its actions, although the actions or non-actions of ERIC and its Board of Directors have the potential to profoundly impact each legally-registered voter’s vote cast; and
Whereas, membership in ERIC, obligates the State of Utah to share every registered voter’s personally identifiable information (PII) as well as PII from the Department of Motor Vehicles in violation of the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (18 USC § 2721), which prohibits DMV data from disclosure to 3rd parties; and
Whereas, sharing ERIC-generated data returned to the states by ERIC to any entity outside of the elections office requires both a court order and the approval of ERIC before the data sought is shared, in violation of the public disclosure provision of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) (52 USC § 20507(i)(1)); and
Whereas, ERIC provides data regarding possibly eligible citizens who are not registered to vote, stating that, “the Member shall, at a minimum, initiate contact with each and every eligible or possibly eligible citizen and inform them how to register to vote. Each Member shall … …initiate contact with at least 95% of the eligible or potentially eligible citizens on whom data was provided and address validation was performed”; and
Whereas, ERIC states in its membership agreement that “under no circumstances shall the member transmit an individual’s record where the record contains documentation or other information indicating that the individual is a non-citizen of the United States” yet, without that information ERIC is unable to identify a large portion of ineligible voters; and
Whereas, ERIC has violated the security of Utah registrants’ data by transmitting state data to third parties, such as the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR), whose data practices and usage are unknown to Utah and its citizens, and ERIC prohibits states from auditing its own work or that of any third-party vendor; and
Whereas, the Lieutenant Governor’s office (via Director of Elections Ryan Cowley) participates in ERIC as a board member representing Utah. The outsourcing of voter registration list maintenance to a third party violates the Vote Act (52 USC § 21083) which specifically states that “The appropriate State or local election official shall perform list maintenance with respect to the computerized list on a regular basis.” List maintenance by a third party also violates the NVRA, which states that “The fact that the applicant has declined to register will remain confidential.” (52 USC § 20504(c)(2)(D)(ii)); and
Whereas, ERIC was started with funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts (which in turn were funded by the Open Society Foundations of globalist George Soros) in 2012 under the leadership of David Becker (a regressive Democrat), who has used ERIC to collaborate with CEIR; and CEIR was one of the two leftist groups to use Mark Zuckerberg’s $419 million to fund the private takeover of government election offices in 2020 under the guise of “protecting elections due to COVID-19”;
Whereas, in the past two years nine Republican-led States have resigned from ERIC because of the organization’s suspect practices that do little to protect the integrity of voter rolls; and
Whereas, a 2022 investigation by Verity Vote revealed that states not participating in ERIC are more effective at identifying and removing voters who move out of a voting district than ERIC member states; and
Whereas, Under Utah law, county clerks must remove deceased voters within 10 business days of receipt from the Lt. Governor (Utah Code 20A-2-504(3)), perform checks for and remove duplicate voters and voters who are registered in another state (Utah Code 20A-2-503(4)) and verify the identity of each voter at time of registration (Utah Code 20-A-503(1)), thus negating the need for Utah’s membership in ERIC; and
Whereas, the delegates of the Weber County Republican Party assembled in Convention in 2024, have lost confidence in ERIC’s ability to be an effective and accurate source of voter roll data for maintaining accurate and up-to-date Utah voter rolls; and
Therefore, be it resolved that the Republican Party Convention of Weber County calls on Utah Lieutenant Governor Deidre Henderson, Director of Elections Ryan Cowley, and the Utah Legislature (by legislation if necessary) to immediately tender Utah’s resignation from ERIC and join with other states who have undertaken similar action;
Be it further resolved that the Republican Party Convention of Weber County calls on Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes to investigate ERIC, CEIR, and any other private NGOs that may have brokered Utah’s voter registration and DMV data for partisan benefit.
Upon passage the Weber County Republican Party Chair shall ensure a copy of this resolution is posted on the party website for not less than 2 years and emailed to CCC members of the County Party, GOP members of the Utah Legislature and elected members of the Executive Branch, including the Lt. Governor and Attorney General.
Sponsor: Otto Krauss (PLV05)
Co-sponsors:
Blair Brandenburg (OGD19), Bob McEntee (MSC01), Arnold Gaunt (OGD09), Brian Gray (PLV10), Brent Odenwalder (HPR12), Thomas Gooch (OGD33), Jennifer Pennington (NOG05), Bill Olson (NOG12), Cindy Aeschlimann (OGD02), David Bruner (PLV05), Suzanna Leland (CSU02), Daniel Badal (WAT02), Emily Beeli (OGD23), Joseph Kerry (OGD10), Jase Reyneveld (LEG9), Nancy Inman (ROY15), David Spackman (OGD02)
April 13th, 2024