Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Monday signed legislation permanently keeping Virginia in the Electronic Registration Information Center, reversing former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s withdrawal from the program.
ERIC, of which Virginia was a founding member under Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, is a national program in which states communicate with one another to keep voter rolls up to date. Twenty-five states and Washington, D.C., currently participate.
“The actions Virginia is taking today are not only critical to allowing all eligible Virginia voters to register and cast their ballot, but to making sure that only Virginians who are eligible to vote are able to vote in our Commonwealth — this year, and in every election into the future,” Spanberger said last month after using an executive order to rejoin ERIC.
Executive orders can be overturned at any time by whoever the governor is at the time. Now that it is codified with General Assembly adoption, the next governor cannot simply remove Virginia from the program.
The data-sharing system is intended to strengthen election security by alerting officials when voters move away or die, helping keep voter rolls accurate and up to date. At the same time, it helps expand ballot access by giving election officials information to identify and reach eligible voters who’ve recently moved but aren’t yet registered.
ERIC became a target of right-wing conspiracy theories after Jan. 6, 2021, and several Republican states have since left the program.
The Youngkin administration cited rising and uncertain costs after other states left, gaps in participation from neighboring states, and concerns about data privacy and how voter information has been used when leaving the program.
“Sanity prevails,” said state Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, who sponsored the legislation.