In a move aimed at enhancing the accuracy and security of Virginia's voter data, Governor Glenn Youngkin has issued an executive order mandating state agencies to establish data-sharing protocols.
This move, according to Youngkin, is a crucial step towards ensuring the integrity of the electoral process in the Commonwealth.
As reported by The Federalist, Youngkin stated, The interagency exchange of data is a vital component of election administration in the Commonwealth. Transparency and interagency collaboration are essential to ensuring that every eligible Virginian can exercise their right to vote and know that the list of registered voters is accurate and up to date.
Executive Order 31, as it is known, requires the Virginia State Police and the Departments of Elections, Health, and Motor Vehicles to update their data-sharing agreements within 90 days of the order's effective date. The order stipulates that these agreements should indicate the applicable state or federal law that permits the sharing of Commonwealth data, the designated contact for each agency, and any other responsibility to ensure the accuracy, reliability, privacy, and efficiency of the data used for list maintenance.
The order also calls for the creation of a multi-agency "data review work group" tasked with analyzing and issuing guidance on the accuracy and security of data used by the Department of Elections. This group will also develop comprehensive best practices across agencies and offer recommendations for effective changes to the Commonwealths list maintenance processes.
The Governor further directed the Department of Elections to devise specific data sharing standards for the source, transmission, and receipt of information given to each agency that regularly circulates voter roll data. The department is also instructed to adopt data-sharing agreements with other states to identify duplicate registrations and voters who no longer reside in the Commonwealth.
These directives come in anticipation of the launch of a new statewide voter list maintenance program next year. This development follows Virginia's withdrawal from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a voter-roll management organization founded by Democrat activist David Becker. ERIC has been criticized for inflating voter rolls by requiring member states to contact eligible but unregistered residents to register to vote.
Virginia Elections Commissioner Susan Beals, in her May 2023 letter to ERIC, cited concerns about the confidentiality of voter information and controversy surrounding the historical sharing of data with outside organizations leveraged for political purposes as reasons for the state's withdrawal. This decision was made after nearly 19,000 dead registrants were discovered on Virginias voter lists.
Virginia is not alone in its departure from ERIC. Other states, including Ohio, Florida, West Virginia, Missouri, Texas, Iowa, Alabama, and Louisiana, have also withdrawn from the program over similar concerns.
Despite these legitimate concerns, some media outlets have labeled critics of ERIC as "conspiracy theorists." However, these same outlets often overlook the concerning facts about the organization.
David Becker, the founder of ERIC, also established the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR). This organization, along with the Center for Tech and Civic Life, received hundreds of millions of dollars from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg leading up to the 2020 election. These funds were used to promote Democrat-backed voting policies, such as mass mail-in voting and the widespread use of ballot drop boxes.
Analyses have shown that these funds, often referred to as Zuckbucks, were heavily skewed toward Democrat municipalities, especially in swing states, effectively making it a large-scale Democrat get-out-the-vote operation.
CEIR has an active relationship with ERIC, which transmits the voter-roll data it receives from states to CEIR. This data is then used to develop targeted mailing lists for voter registration outreach, essentially creating lists of potential (and likely Democrat) voters for states to register in the lead-up to major elections.
Governor Youngkin, in his commitment to ensuring the integrity of the electoral process, vetoed a Democrat bill that attempted to force Virginia to rejoin ERIC earlier this year. This move underscores the Governor's dedication to maintaining the accuracy and security of Virginia's voter data, a crucial component in upholding the democratic process.
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