{"id":728113,"date":"2023-05-05T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/?p=728113"},"modified":"2023-05-09T08:31:52","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T13:31:52","slug":"why-oklahoma-isnt-joining-an-interstate-effort-to-counter-voter-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2023\/05\/05\/why-oklahoma-isnt-joining-an-interstate-effort-to-counter-voter-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Oklahoma Isn\u2019t Joining An Interstate Effort to Counter Voter Fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It had the makings of an election reform bill Republicans and Democrats could get behind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senate Bill 710<\/a> proposed authorizing Oklahoma to join a multistate cooperative whose members share voter and motor vehicle data to keep their voter rolls updated and root out fraud. Member states agree to mail voter registration information to residents identified as eligible but unregistered to vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOklahoma already has one of the best election systems in the nation, but these measures will further strengthen and modernize that system,\u201d wrote bill sponsor Darcy Jech, R-Kingfisher, after the proposal cleared the Senate on a 42-3 vote in March 2021. \u201cIt\u2019s important that we maintain an accurate voter database and encourage eligible voters to participate in our election process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gov. Kevin Stitt signed it into law in late April 2021. But two years later, Oklahoma lawmakers and the state\u2019s top election official have soured on partnering with the Electronic Registration Information Center<\/a>, citing dissatisfaction with its leadership, uncertainty about membership costs and data privacy concerns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reversal comes as officials in several other GOP-led states, including Florida, Iowa and Ohio, have opted to pull out of ERIC<\/a> in recent months. <\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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Audio Stories: December 29, 2025<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n

In the months immediately following the 2020 presidential election, where unfounded claims of widespread election fraud by former President Donald Trump prompted many Republican-controlled legislatures<\/a> to seek more restrictive voting laws, ERIC remained an uncontroversial organization. Its bipartisan coalition included 31 member states and Washington, D.C. In 2022, the organization says<\/a> it found more than two million voters who moved across states, 200,000 duplicate registrations and 65,000 deceased voters. That information is disclosed in a series of reports<\/a>, generated using a mix of state data and social security death records, that ERIC sends to member states every 60 days.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the 2024 presidential election draws nearer, ERIC has increasingly been targeted by groups like The Gateway Pundit and Thomas More Society<\/a> with claims that it is funded by partisan interests and shared voter data without consent. Media and fact-checking organizations have debunked these claims<\/a> as false or misleading. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Reversal on ERIC<\/h2>\n\n\n\n