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Assembly authorizes state board to join ERIC to clean voter rolls
Summary
The Assembly voted to allow the State Board of Elections to join the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) and similar multistate voter-maintenance groups; floor debate covered privacy, costs and protections for confidential voters and noncitizens.
The Assembly on June 5 approved legislation authorizing the State Board of Elections to join ERIC (the Electronic Registration Information Center) or similar multistate voter-registration maintenance organizations. Sponsor Assemblymember Taylor said joining ERIC would help the state identify voters who have moved, died, or appear on multiple rolls.
Floor questions and answers covered privacy protections for confidential voters (domestic-violence survivors), mechanisms ERIC uses (DMV records, U.S. Postal Service and state-provided records), and cost: an estimated start-up of $150,000 and annual dues of $25,000. Sponsor Taylor emphasized that ERIC does not remove voters from rolls; rather it flags records for state review and that New York would retain control over state data.
Members also asked how the organization would handle noncitizens and how error remediation would work; Taylor said ERIC provides data back to the state for follow-up and that the state would not supply confidential-voter records. The Assembly recorded the vote as Ayes 142, Nays 0.
Supporters said the measure will help clean and maintain voter rolls, improving public confidence in election administration. The bill passed and will take effect immediately as read on the floor.
