Established Fact
The Georgia Secretary of State participated in a program through which Eligible But Unregistered (EBU) voter data was transmitted through the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) to the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR), which used that data to generate targeted voter registration mailing lists that were then returned through ERIC to the participating state. A September 2020 email obtained through a public records request from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office confirms that Georgia was among the states whose EBU data was routed in this manner, with CEIR’s research manager instructing that “the data from GA should be sent to ERIC for transfer to CEIR.” CEIR then randomized each state’s EBU list into treatment and control groups and coordinated outreach mailers to targeted individuals. This multi-step routing — from state election offices through ERIC to CEIR and back — was not reflected in ERIC’s publicly disclosed data flow diagrams and became known only through FOIA litigation. While ERIC and CEIR characterize the program as nonpartisan academic research measuring whether government outreach increases registration rates, critics have argued that use of state-generated voter data by a private nonprofit chain to produce targeted voter contact lists — without competitive public contracting or voter disclosure — raises substantial transparency concerns.
Citations
Verity Vote, National ERIC Data SharingNational ERIC Data Sharing (Aug. 2022), pp. 1–3, https://verityvote.us/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/national-ERIC-data-sharing_VerityVote.pdf. Citing Georgia FOIA email: Jenny Lovell (CEIR Research Manager), email re EBU data transfer: “the data from GA should be sent to ERIC for transfer to CEIR. That transfer process is reversed so GA can download the mailing lists from ERIC.” Report further documents that CEIR’s REVERE program “enable[s] states to draw on phone numbers and email addresses contained in the voter file” for targeted outreach; and that the official ERIC Data Flow diagram disclosed to states does not show the routing through CEIR. | Verity Vote
Hans von Spakovsky & J. Christian Adams, The Problems with the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC)The Problems with the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), Heritage Foundation Legal Memorandum No. 328 (Apr. 19, 2023), p. 9, https://publicinterestlegal.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/LM328.pdf . Confirming: “Recent reports indicate that ERIC member data are being shared with Becker’s Center for Election Innovation and Research. Emails obtained through litigation and public records requests reveal that ERIC data from Rhode Island were provided to the organization, as well as from Georgia.” Note: the same memorandum states, “Of course, voter rolls are public records under federal law, so this information sharing in the end could prove to be entirely benign” — a hedge the reader should weigh. | Public Interest Legal
Election Fairness Institute, ERIC Caught Sharing Voter Data with CEIRERIC Caught Sharing Voter Data with CEIR (Mar. 22, 2023), https://electionfairnessinstitute.org/eric-caught-sharing-voter-data-with-ceir/. Citing Rhode Island: ERIC Exec. Dir. Shane Hamlin email (Jan. 12, 2021): “Yes, you’re good to continue working with CEIR . . . This should be the same process you used to provide the EBU list to CEIR.” Additional corroboration of Georgia September 2020 email. | Election Fairness Institute