On August 21st, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Florida will soon join the multi-state voter registration organization ERIC, Electronic Registration Information Center.
“One of my administration’s top priorities is protecting the integrity of Florida’s elections, which is why joining ERIC is the right thing to do for our state as it will ensure our voter rolls are up-to-date and it will increase voter participation in our elections,” said Governor DeSantis.
ERIC is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that serves to assist states in increasing access to registration and improving the accuracy of voter rolls by cross-referencing information between states.
Currently 29 states including with Washington, D.C. are participants, making Florida the 30th state to join.
For years, county election supervisors encouraged the state to join ERIC as it is predicted increase public confidence in the elections and higher voter turnout.
As Florida is the nation’s third-largest state and sees massive amounts of migration, many voters in the state are simultaneously registered in other states. Although being registered in more than one state is not a crime, voting twice is voter fraud.
“Since taking office, we have been reviewing this issue with Supervisors of Elections. We are confident that by improving the accuracy of our voter rolls, we will reduce the potential for voter fraud,” DeSantis said.
In an effort to increase voter registration, DeSantis said that he will ask the Legislature for $1.3 million to pay for ERIC-mandated statewide mailers that include voting registration instructions, to go out to eligible but unregistered adults in Florida before the 2020 presidential election.
DeSantis said he agreed to join ERIC after getting assurances that retirees moving from other states into Florida won’t be unfairly “dinged.” He also mentioned that he doubts there is any widespread problem of voters fraudulently casting ballots in two states.
“It was a great relief to know we are all on the same team on this thing right now,’’ said Orange County Supervisor of Elections Bill Cowles, “I think it’s great. It’s something we’ve needed.”