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Representative Seeks Funding To Reassess Voter-Registration Database After ERIC Concerns
Summary
Representative Lizenby told the appropriations subcommittee she is pursuing funding to study and select better tools for voter-roll maintenance after concerns about ERIC and evidence of duplicate entries; committee members asked about scope and prior payments to ERIC.
Representative Lizenby presented a request-for-appropriation to study and fund improved voter-registration list maintenance and a possible replacement for ERIC, the interstate database currently used for interstate voter roll comparisons.
Lizenby told the General Government Appropriations Subcommittee the state's current use of ERIC has produced problematic matches and false positives in other states. She said some states have left ERIC and implemented their own memorandums of understanding with high-mover partner states, and she wants Utah to evaluate the best available technology and data-sharing arrangements for maintaining accurate voter rolls.
During questioning, committee members asked whether the proposal would better leverage intrastate data (vital records, driver's license records, property tax rolls) as well as interstate coordination. Lizenby said the bill language would create a clear process for using data-sharing agreements and for comparing the voter rolls with vital records, driver's license records and property databases, consistent with recommendations in a December 2024 audit.
Lizenby also said the state currently pays ERIC about $50,000 and that she had asked for "a hundred" to pursue the study and initial work; the transcript does not specify the unit (for example, $100,000) or whether she meant $100,000 or another amount. Chair Vickers and other members discussed scaling and whether previously budgeted ERIC payments could be reallocated toward the work.
Committee members encouraged Lizenby to refine the request language and to be prepared to show whether requested amounts are scalable and how they relate to existing ERIC payments. The subcommittee did not take a final funding vote at the meeting and asked staff and the sponsor to provide more detailed cost and scope estimates.
