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Subcommittee amends and advances bill restricting multi‑state voter‑list maintenance participation, allows alternate compacts
Summary
House Bill 215 would restrict Georgia’s participation in certain multi‑state voter‑list maintenance organizations (notably ERIC). After testimony from the Secretary of State’s office and advocates, the committee adopted an amendment to permit the secretary to enter state‑to‑state compacts and then advanced the bill as amended.
Representative Montahan presented House Bill 215, which would prohibit the Secretary of State, state agencies and local election officials from joining or participating in multi‑state voter‑list maintenance organizations and would restrict sharing confidential voter registration data with nongovernmental entities.
The Secretary of State’s office provided detailed testimony about current list‑maintenance practices and the state’s membership in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). Blake Evans of the Secretary of State’s office said ERIC provides cross‑state comparison reports and administrative efficiencies that would be costly and time‑consuming to replicate with individual state‑to‑state exchanges. “ERIC is the most secure and efficient mass voter‑list maintenance tool that is available,” Evans testified, and he said Georgia’s dues for the past year were $97,969.
Advocacy witnesses differed on the measure. Marissa Pyle of All Voting Is Local Action and Rachel Lastinger of the ACLU of Georgia urged opposition, arguing that ERIC and similar partnerships help keep rolls current and reduce the risk of wrongful removal. “ERIC is really crucial because there is no one central place where that information lives,” Pyle said. Don Hackney, a retired attorney, and Colin Fabredo of Voter GA urged passage, raising data‑protection and privacy concerns about third‑party receipt of personally identifying information in multi‑state databases.
Representative Fleming offered and the committee approved an amendment (AM 470134) to allow the Secretary of State to enter into voter‑list maintenance compacts with other states, share driver‑license identification information as needed for those compacts, and to withdraw from such compacts at the Secretary’s discretion. After adoption of the amendment the committee voted to pass the bill as amended and send it to full committee.
Votes at a glance: Committee approved amendment AM 470134 to authorize the Secretary of State to enter state‑to‑state list‑maintenance compacts and then voted to advance HB 215 as amended to full committee.
