Apologize for the length of this post but this is involved if not all that complicated.
What is ERIC?
For for our purposes:
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What is ERIC?
Becker is a Soros guy. You can read about him later, if you want.Quote:
The Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, was sold to states as a quick and easy way to update their voter rolls. Started in 2012 by far-left activist David Becker and the left-leaning Pew Charitable Trusts, the program is ostensibly run by the member states themselves. But as public records show, Democratic operatives are working overtime under the cover of ERIC to accomplish their partisan goals and drive Democratic voter turnout.
For for our purposes:
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While Becker is a shrewd activist, ERIC member secretaries of state describe him as charming and brilliant. Becker is known to host swanky, all-access-paid election integrity conferences for state election officials and their spouses. Even during the pandemic, Becker courted ERIC members with Zoom catch-up calls. "Shane Hamlin and I have discussed doing another virtual get-together with the folks in the states (we did a small one last Friday) to catch up and hang out. No particular agenda, not about ERIC, just a good way to kick off the Memorial Day weekend (what's a weekend?). I hope many of you can make it," a May 15, 2020, email to ERIC members said.
Eligible but unregistered voters, a/k/a EBU. Those are important.Quote:
ERIC shares voter roll data including records of unregistered voters it receives from the states with CEIR, according to public information requests detailed in the report. CEIR then develops targeted mailing lists and sends them back to the states to use for voter registration outreach. As part of their agreement with ERIC, states are not allowed to disclose any data they send to nor receive from ERIC, however, ERIC is not under the same constraints and is able to work with CEIR.
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How does ERIC work? According to its membership agreement, every 60 days states are required to send "all active and inactive voter files," "all licensing or identification records contained in the motor vehicles database," and any state agency records that perform "voter registration functions" to ERIC, which matches those against data from all other member states and Social Security death data. From there it creates voter maintenance lists lists of voters who have moved, died, or have duplicate registrations and lists of non-registered voters called "eligible but unregistered." States are then required to contact every person on the latter list and tell them how to register.
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Furthermore, a 2020 Judicial Watch study found that 353 U.S. counties had 1.8 million more registered voters than eligible voting-age citizens. Notably, the study also identified eight states showing statewide registration rates exceeding 100 percent. Seven of the eight states are ERIC members: Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Rhode Island, and Vermont. For example, 40 out of 64 Colorado counties have more registered voters than eligible residents, and Colorado has been a member of ERIC for 10 years.
Following all of that? Let me bring it on home using another state, Michigan, in 2020.Quote:
How does CEIR fit into all this? Public records obtained by Verity Vote show that ERIC transfers lists of unregistered but eligible voters it receives from the states to CEIR, which then creates targeted mailing lists from the data and transfers those back to the states for distribution. States use these lists for their voter registration outreach.
In a September 4, 2020, email sent to the Georgia secretary of state's office, former CEIR employee Jenny Lovell explains how Georgia's "eligible but unregistered," or EBU, data must be sent to ERIC before it is transferred to CEIR. "I've just finished randomizing your EBU list. … To get them to you, we'll simply reverse the transfer process: I'll send the files to ERIC and they'll get them to you." Another email obtained by Verity Vote shows Becker emailing ERIC member states on April 17, 2020, explaining that "CEIR is planning to help you coordinate your ERIC EBU outreach this year."
Let me repeat that:Quote:
Michigan is a good example of "eligible but unregistered" voter outreach. Thanks to the joint efforts of ERIC and CEIR, tens of thousands of mailers were sent out to unregistered voters there in September 2020. Because Michigan had approved automatic voter registration by mail the year prior, recipients of the EBU mailer were automatically registered to vote if they did not respond. Approximately 30 days after the mailer was sent, 114,000 people were automatically added to Michigan's voter rolls, an unprecedented single-day registration spike.
Whether these people want to register or not, their name is on the voter rolls.Quote:
Because Michigan had approved automatic voter registration by mail the year prior, recipients of the EBU mailer were automatically registered to vote if they did not respond. Approximately 30 days after the mailer was sent, 114,000 people were automatically added to Michigan's voter rolls, an unprecedented single-day registration spike.
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As previously reported, CEIR held significant sway in the 2020 election. After receiving more than $70 million from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, CEIR mainly funneled the cash to Democratic secretaries of state in key swing states to gain access to data needed to inflate voter rolls and drive Democratic voter turnout. Pennsylvania and Michigan received the most CEIR funds, with Pennsylvania's Department of State receiving $13 million and Michigan nearly $12 million.
CEIR's own website says grant funds were exclusively used for voter education, specifically "direct mail outreach, paid media campaigns, and other communication activities." In Michigan, however, $11.8 million of its $12 million grant went to Democratic consulting firms for conducting so-called "nonpartisan" voter education. Meanwhile, the $13 million to Pennsylvania's secretary of state funded a massive "voter information" campaign in mostly Democrat-heavy Philadelphia and Allegheny counties.
Cute, huh?Quote:
Public records obtained by Verity Vote show Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar signed an "eligible but unregistered" outreach contract with CEIR, agreeing to provide all data "CEIR reasonably requests" the day before the $13 million grant was awarded. Boockvar also agreed to keep "any information Grantee receives from CEIR relating to CEIR's funders or funding agreements or arrangements" strictly confidential. As Pennsylvania is still under contract with CEIR, it is prohibited from disclosing that CEIR is funded by Zuckerberg.
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While the Pennsylvania Department of State has no qualms about sharing its voter data with CEIR for voter outreach efforts, it refused to share the same data with state Senate Republicans. Back in September 2021, the Pennsylvania GOP subpoenaed the Department of State for its voter records for the purpose of conducting an audit of the 2020 election. The Democratic Party-aligned administration refused and sued the Senate Republicans for requesting "confidential" voter data.
Scared yet?Quote:
Another unsettling public records discovery is a new program by CEIR to combat so-called disinformation. According to documents obtained from the Georgia secretary of state, CEIR is developing a "free service" that will allow states to communicate with voters via text and email to fight what it calls "disinformation."
Per Becker in the Georgia FOIA documents, "CEIR has built a new, secure electronic messaging tool called REVERE, which will enable states to draw on phone numbers and email addresses contained in the voter file, and send texts, emails, and even voicemails to any set of voters."
CEIR ostensibly uses voter data obtained by ERIC from the states specifically cell phone numbers and email addresses for the program to "assist state election officials in combating foreign and domestic disinformation on social media and email." During the 2020 presidential election, Georgia appeared to run a pilot program of REVERE. CEIR's website states that Georgia used some of the CEIR funds it received for countering disinformation and "issuing public service announcements warning voters of disinformation."
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