Posted on Jun 4, 2023
How the far right tore apart one of the best tools to fight voter fraud
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https://www.npr.org/2023/06/04/ [login to see] /eric-investigation-voter-data-election-integrity
On a night in January 2022, Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin stepped on stage in a former airbase in Houma, La.
With American flags draped from the stage, the topic of the night was democracy.
The state's chief voting official joked that he was competing with a former LSU Tiger great playing in the NFL playoffs the same night.
"I want to thank you all for coming out, competing with Joe Burrow is pretty tough!" Ardoin laughed.
But these were election die-hards.
The group hosting the event — We The People, Bayou Chapter — is one of hundreds of so-called election integrity groups that have popped up across the country since 2020, motivated by former President Donald Trump's lies about voting.
On a night in January 2022, Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin stepped on stage in a former airbase in Houma, La.
With American flags draped from the stage, the topic of the night was democracy.
The state's chief voting official joked that he was competing with a former LSU Tiger great playing in the NFL playoffs the same night.
"I want to thank you all for coming out, competing with Joe Burrow is pretty tough!" Ardoin laughed.
But these were election die-hards.
The group hosting the event — We The People, Bayou Chapter — is one of hundreds of so-called election integrity groups that have popped up across the country since 2020, motivated by former President Donald Trump's lies about voting.
How the far right tore apart one of the best tools to fight voter fraud
Posted from npr.org
Voting
Elections
Election 2020
Donald Trump
Conspiracy Theories
Posted 1 y ago
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Cutting off their nose to spite their face...
Those running the GOP push this election fraud narrative, I believe, so that it is easier to engage in election fraud. They know they can't win in a straight forward contest, so they have to find ways around the rules or change the rules, and the first step in doing that is to undermine trust in the rules. Then they can change the rules where they hold power to skew voting in their favor, in this case by eliminating processes that help enforce they very thing they claim to be concerned about.
Those running the GOP push this election fraud narrative, I believe, so that it is easier to engage in election fraud. They know they can't win in a straight forward contest, so they have to find ways around the rules or change the rules, and the first step in doing that is to undermine trust in the rules. Then they can change the rules where they hold power to skew voting in their favor, in this case by eliminating processes that help enforce they very thing they claim to be concerned about.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
MSgt Steve Sweeney They Know without ERIC it makes it Easier for them to Claim Fraud.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."ERIC is fractured, but still standing
ERIC is still standing, though with less shared data and higher costs for remaining members.
Some red state legislatures, like Texas and Oklahoma, have passed anti-ERIC bills. Trump himself has urged states to get out of the compact. But the partnership still has more than two dozen member states, including Republican governments like South Carolina, Utah and Georgia. California has legislation winding its way through its state government that would allow that massive — and data rich — state to join too.
For the states that have left, election experts say the consequence is that over time, their rolls will almost certainly be less accurate.
Brianna Lennon, a Democrat who oversees voting in Boone County, Mo., says that will surely be the case in her county.
Before the state joined ERIC, the elections office relied on returned mail to find out if a voter moved to another state.
"That's what we'll have to go back to using," she said.
Lennon had gotten a sense recently that community election integrity groups were gaining more traction in her state, but she says this ERIC decision was the first major policy decision she's seen that lined up so directly with their goals.
"I'm sure there are going to be ripples that come from this particular move and I'm not exactly sure what the end will be," she said. "I don't think this is an isolated thing."
..."ERIC is fractured, but still standing
ERIC is still standing, though with less shared data and higher costs for remaining members.
Some red state legislatures, like Texas and Oklahoma, have passed anti-ERIC bills. Trump himself has urged states to get out of the compact. But the partnership still has more than two dozen member states, including Republican governments like South Carolina, Utah and Georgia. California has legislation winding its way through its state government that would allow that massive — and data rich — state to join too.
For the states that have left, election experts say the consequence is that over time, their rolls will almost certainly be less accurate.
Brianna Lennon, a Democrat who oversees voting in Boone County, Mo., says that will surely be the case in her county.
Before the state joined ERIC, the elections office relied on returned mail to find out if a voter moved to another state.
"That's what we'll have to go back to using," she said.
Lennon had gotten a sense recently that community election integrity groups were gaining more traction in her state, but she says this ERIC decision was the first major policy decision she's seen that lined up so directly with their goals.
"I'm sure there are going to be ripples that come from this particular move and I'm not exactly sure what the end will be," she said. "I don't think this is an isolated thing."
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