Ashcroft leads Missouri, Florida and West Virginia out of ERIC

 Jefferson City, Mo. — Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, along with Florida and West Virginia sent letters to Executive Director Shane Hamlin stating their departure from the Electronic Registration Information Center known as ERIC.

For several months Missouri has been leading other states in an effort to reform the ERIC system by addressing significant concerns and implementing changes in ERIC.

“We have worked hard over the last several years to implement procedures that will make Missouri elections better, voter rolls more accurate, and bring greater trust to the election process,” Ashcroft said. “Voter confidence is compromised when individuals vote in more than one state and nothing is done.  It appears that ERIC will not make the necessary changes to address these concerns, therefore, it is time to move on.”

As West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner said, “There is no defensible justification to allow any opportunity for partisanship in voter registration and list maintenance, much less in the administration of our nation’s elections.”

In his letter, Ashcroft cited reasons for Missouri’s departure including: not requiring member states to address issues of multi-state voters, board protocol procedures, lack of ERIC participation from border states, and unnecessary mailings.

Missouri continues to lead the country in accessible, secure, and creditable elections.