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25-459: At least every 60 days, each ERIC state submits its voter registration data and motor vehicle licensing data to ERIC. ERIC's technical staff matches this data against data from all the other member states and Social Security death data . ERIC identifies voters who have moved, voters who have died, and voters with duplicate registrations within a state's database. States may also request National Change of Address (NCOA) reports using official data from

50-504: A cessation of government benefits, but also the freezing of bank accounts , the inability to buy or rent property, and mistaken accusations of identity theft . The Office of the Inspector General called the error rate "very low", but noted that "SSA’s erroneous death entries can lead to mistaken benefit terminations and cause severe financial hardship and distress to affected people. ... When errors like this occur, it can be

75-399: A high response rate for direct mailings. That rate suggests 2.6 million to 5.2 million of the 26 million people notified became voters. ERIC’s list maintenance reports help states improve the accuracy of their voter lists by identifying voters who have moved within the state, voters who have moved from one ERIC state to another, voters who have died, and voters with duplicate registrations in

100-499: A long and difficult process to resurrect your financial life." Secretary of State of Louisiana [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The secretary of state of Louisiana ( French : Secrétaire d'État de la Louisiane ) is one of the elected constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Louisiana and serves as the head of the Louisiana Department of State. The position was created by Article 4, Section 7 of

125-512: A seat on ERIC's board of directors. The board has created an executive committee and advisory committees to assist with issues related to data security and research. Key responsibilities of the board of directors include approving the annual budget, setting annual membership dues, and a periodic review of ERIC's Information Security Plan and policies. ERIC is governed by bylaws and a membership agreement that each state must sign before joining. Death Master File The Death Master File ( DMF )

150-470: A statement reporting that he had visited the address given by ERIC for its office. Allen said that he found the office totally vacant with "no ERIC presence of any kind" and that it instead was a rentable "virtual office". ERIC Executive Director Shane Hamlin responded by stating that the address was meant only for mailing purposes and that ERIC has never had physical brick and mortar offices since its founding. According to ERIC's website, ERIC does not disclose

175-731: Is a computer database file made available by the United States Social Security Administration since 1980. It is known commercially as the Social Security Death Index (SSDI). The file contains information about persons who had Social Security numbers and whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration from 1962 to the present; or persons who died before 1962, but whose Social Security accounts were still active in 1962. As of 2018 ,

200-819: Is also used extensively by genealogists . Lorretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargraves Luebking report in The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy (1997) that the total number of deaths in the United States from 1962 to September 1991 is estimated at 58.2 million. Of that number, 42.5 million (73 percent) are found in the Death Master File. Other research published by the Social Security Administration in 2002 suggests that for most years since 1973, 93 percent to 96 percent of deaths of individuals aged 65 or older were included in

225-642: Is considered a public document under the Freedom of Information Act , and monthly and weekly updates of the file are sold by the National Technical Information Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce . Knowing that a patient died is important in many observational clinical studies and is important for medical research. It is also used by financial and credit firms and government agencies to match records and prevent identity fraud . The Death Master File, in its SSDI form,

250-600: The Louisiana Constitution . The current secretary of state is Nancy Landry . Article 4, Section 7 of the Constitution of Louisiana provides for the office of secretary of state. The secretary administers Louisiana's Address Confidentiality Program , which protects victims of stalking , domestic violence , and sexual abuse . The secretary operates "Louisiana One Call" , the state's " call before you dig " program, and accepts applications for

275-925: The US Postal Service and, after federal general elections, participate in a fraud check to see if voters cast ballots in more than one state. By matching voter data against motor vehicle licensing data, ERIC also identifies individuals who are not yet registered so election officials can provide information on how to register to vote. States joining ERIC have agreed to pursue nonpartisan and protective goals. Participating states are required to mail notifications to people identified as eligible to vote but not registered. Between 2012 and 2018, ERIC identified 26 million persons who were eligible to cast ballots but were not registered to vote, as well as 10 million registered voters who had moved, or who appeared on more than one list. Follow-up research in some states concluded that 10-20% of those contacted had later registered to vote,

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300-477: The DMF. Today the number of deaths, at any age, reported to the Death Master File is around 95 percent. Social Security Administration distributes the file via National Technical Information Service . In May 2013, the cost of a single download (with no weekly, monthly or quarterly annual subscription costs) was $ 1825. The Social Security Administration has estimated that about 16 million decedents were missing from

325-459: The File, leading to government benefits being paid out improperly; the total amount of improper payments in 2014 was estimated at $ 124 billion. Conversely, the Social Security Administration estimates that roughly 12,000 living people are added to the File annually, potentially due to clerical error . Because the File is used widely for commercial purposes, an erroneous listing can lead to not only

350-814: The Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority. The office manages an online portal for businesses operating in the state. The secretary of state's office is responsible for the management of the Old Louisiana Governor's Mansion , the Old Louisiana State Capitol , the State Archives, and seven museums. The secretary is an ex officio member of the State Bond Commission and the board of directors of

375-979: The accuracy of state voter registration rolls and boost access to voter registration for all American citizens. ERIC was launched in 2012 by elections officials from seven states with logistical and financial support from the Pew Charitable Trusts . As of October 2024, membership includes 24 states and the District of Columbia. The Pew Charitable Trusts, although integral to the creation of ERIC, now has no role in ERIC. The seven states that created ERIC in 2012 were Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. By 2019, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin had joined

400-572: The departure of Texas, a total of nine states had left the organization in the 18 months leading up to July 2023. The states, in order of departure, are Louisiana, Alabama, Missouri, Florida, West Virginia, Iowa, Ohio, Virginia, and Texas. NPR has reported that far-right conspiracy theorists claimed that ERIC was not impartial, though there were at the time as many Republican as Democratic members. Despite several attempts to do so, states departing ERIC have yet to replace it with an alternate system that addresses election integrity concerns. Each state has

425-407: The file contained information on 111 million deaths. In 2011, some records were removed from the file. The data includes: In 2011, the following information was removed: The Death Master File is a subset of the Social Security Administration's Numident database file, computerized in 1961, which contains information about all Social Security numbers issued since 1936. The Death Master File

450-665: The location of any of its servers for safety reasons. In October 2023, Alabama announced that a new program, called AVID or the Alabama Voter Integrity Database, will use federal and other state data to monitor voter information as a replacement for ERIC. Effective June 2023, Iowa ended its membership in ERIC. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate's office explained the decision was based on multiple states leaving ERIC resulted in reduced data making it less effective and Iowa no longer agreed with ERIC rules requiring all member states to abide with its bylaws. One of

475-534: The main complaints was how ERIC requires member states to perform outreach to unregistered voters to encourage them to register. It was announced that Virginia was withdrawing from ERIC in August 2023. Virginia's commissioner of elections Susan Beals said concerns about data security and stewardship were the basis of her decision. In July 2023, Texas finalized its departure from the organization, leaving only five Republican-leaning states still retaining membership. With

500-428: The number of deceased voters, in-state and out-of-state movers, and duplicate registrations that it has reported to member states. Maryland and Illinois state administrators said determining a person's current home address can present problems. Member states report that "false positives" are rare. Unopened returned mail—evidence of a wrong address—is substantially reduced. Seven states initially created ERIC to improve

525-532: The partnership, with Texas joining in March 2020 and Oklahoma adopting legislation to join in April 2021. ERIC's matching software was developed by data scientist Jeff Jonas. In the 2020-2021 fiscal year, its budget was slightly more than $ 1 million. In 2022, The Gateway Pundit , a conservative news website that does not follow industry standards of credibility and transparency, published a number of articles implying

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550-599: The program in January 2023, after Secretary of State of Alabama Wes Allen made exiting ERIC one of his campaign issues. Florida, Missouri, and West Virginia announced their withdrawals on March 6, 2023. Later the same month, Ohio also withdrew from ERIC; Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose had previously defended the organization but changed course, saying that ERIC had "double[d]-down on poor strategic decisions". In February 2023, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, who had previously withdrawn Alabama from ERIC, released

575-573: The program of being a "voter registration vehicle for Democrats." However, the Pew Charitable Trusts' funding of ERIC was separate from Soros' donations. Under pressure from right-wing activists, nine states with Republican leadership have exited the program. In January 2022, Secretary of State of Louisiana Kyle Ardoin announced that Louisiana would suspend its participation in ERIC, then fully withdrew in July 2022. Alabama withdrew from

600-555: The program was part of a left-wing election conspiracy, despite the participation of both Democratic and Republican-led states. Various conservative campaigns opposing the program have emerged since the Gateway Pundit series. According to The New York Times , ERIC received seed funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts . Because businessman George Soros had previously donated to the Pew Trusts, opponents of ERIC accused

625-483: The state. ERIC's Membership Agreement requires each state to request and act on at least one of these reports at a minimum of once a year, though the ERIC Membership Agreement strongly encourages states to establish a regular schedule for requesting these reports. States must act on these reports in a manner that complies with applicable federal and state law. ERIC's website publishes statistics on

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