John –

Right now, lawmakers in state legislatures across the country are considering voting bills — many of them designed to reduce participation. Our roundup team reviewed 150 restrictive voting bills already introduced before the end of January. As state legislators debate these bills, one thing is clear:

Many voting bill debates are being informed by Big Lie-fueled conspiracy theories rather than objective measures of what will improve the safety and security of our elections. And the election denial movement has found its latest target in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a nonprofit, multi-state voting compact that improves the accuracy of state voter rolls.

ERIC has been quietly operating for over a decade. It identifies registrants who should be taken off state voter rolls because they moved or died, and it helps register millions of new eligible voters. The program previously had a record of bipartisan support — in fact, the majority of its original members were Republican-led states. But just in the last month, Florida, Missouri, and West Virginia have abandoned the consortium, with Ohio, Texas, and Wisconsin threatening to do the same.

What happened? Baseless conspiracies that have been mutating since the 2020 election have taken hold in far-right media as well as Fox News – and outlets began vilifying ERIC despite a decade of reliable data-sharing.

We can’t let this coordinated disinformation campaign continue to chip away at our state voting systems. John, will you take a moment right now to tell your lawmakers to protect elections in your state from conspiracy theorists?

State legislatures have produced an unprecedented number of voting bills since 2020 — both good and bad. As legislators consider these new bills, it’s critical they base their decisions on good information and a pro-democracy, pro-voter approach. If our lawmakers don’t take a firm stand and reject Big Lie-inspired conspiracies, ERIC will be yet another casualty in our fight for free and fair elections.

We need to put pressure on lawmakers all over the country to commit to fighting disinformation – and your representatives are no exception.

Thank you for all you do,
The Brennan Center team