LWVTX Blog

Two weeks ago, the incoming Secretary of State, former state senator Jane Nelson, met with the Senate Nominations Committee, and we were very encouraged by her remarks to the committee. She signaled support for improving the design of the Ballot by Mail applications, so that they are easier to read and use. She also seemed very interested in developing ways to engage young voters in our elections. And she was receptive to improving election worker safety, so we can improve worker retention rates. We are looking forward to these potential improvements in our state's election system...

There has also been some restructuring occurring in the Secretary of State's office. Last Friday, Secretary Nelson announced that Keith Ingram, the current Director of the Elections Division, will now be tasked with developing and managing an interstate voter registration crosscheck program. Christina Adkins, the Legal Director for the Elections Division, will be taking his place. We are concerned that this announcement may signal that state leadership is taking steps to withdrawal from the Electronic Registration Information Center, also known as ERIC. Last week, three other states withdrew from ERIC: Florida, Missouri, and West Virginia. The data and software that ERIC provides to states helps us maintain accurate voter rolls. ERIC can identify voters who have moved within their state, voters who have moved out of state, voters who have died, duplicate registrations in the same state, and individuals who are potentially eligible to vote but are not yet registered. The data that ERIC provided to our state in June 2022 allowed us to clean up more than 200k voters from the state's voter rolls. 

Since there is no other system currently available for states to use to perform a cross-check analysis of their voter rolls, it is unclear what system the Secretary of State plans to use in place of ERIC. State law requires the state to cooperate with other state governments to develop systems to compare voters, voter history, and voter registration lists to identify voters whose addresses have changed.

To read more on this topic, click here.