Session: 2023-2024
ACLU-PA Position: Opposes
SB 125 (PN 971) would amend Title 25 (Elections) to provide for interstate voter registration cross-check to keep voter rolls updated.
Currently, Pennsylvania participates in ERIC (Electronic Registration Information Center), a multi-state cooperative funded by member dues. SB 125 is structured to prohibit PA from participating in the ERIC cooperative, but ERIC is the only reliable tool for cleaning up voter registration records between states. ERIC allows states to:
- Identify voters who have moved and remove them; and
- Identify voters who may have died in another state and remove them.
ERIC permits states to remove voters who have moved and voters who have died more frequently and with better accuracy than other tools. In addition, sensitive private information is anonymized before data is sent from PA to ERIC. ERIC matches PA data with other anonymized data in its system and sends a report back to PA. At that point, Pennsylvania de-anonymizes it, so no privacy protections are violated.
If this bill is motivated by genuine "voter fraud” concerns, then continuing PA's participation in ERIC is an effective way to guard against those concerns.
Check the bill's status here.
