Georgia’s GOP-controlled election board wants DOJ to investigate nonpartisan voter roll maintenance program

Georgia’s election board asked the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate a leading nonpartisan voter roll maintenance program, potentially adding yet another probe based on hyper-partisan conspiracy theories to the department’s portfolio.

The request came in an extraordinary letter that James Mills, executive director of Georgia’s GOP-controlled State Election Board (SEB), sent Thursday that also asked the DOJ to “prohibit” the state from using its voting machines. 

Georgia has been central to President Donald Trump’s unfounded allegations that the 2020 election was stolen from him. It is one of the last GOP-controlled states that still participates in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a database that enables states to share information to keep voter rolls clean and accurate. 

Despite Mills’ request for a federal investigation into ERIC, he appeared to know very little about the organization during a board meeting earlier this week.

“I have a question about ERIC. The state of Georgia is paying quite a bit of money to ERIC,” Mills said. “What does ERIC do?”

His question arose during a hearing on a complaint about a possible double-voting incident in 2024 that ERIC flagged. 

Many red states withdrew from ERIC in 2022 thanks to right-wing conspiracy theories and allegations that membership in the organization benefitted Democrats. 

Justice Department Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon repeated those claims in a recent interview, blasting red states that share their voter rolls “with groups like ERIC and other so-called nonprofits that in fact weaponizes information toward the left, typically with get out the vote efforts.” 

Days after that interview, the Georgia election board sent its letter to DOJ requesting an investigation. 

“The Georgia Secretary of State has entered into an agreement with an outside proprietary entity (ERIC) that has access to Georgia voter registration data and Georgia motor vehicle data,” the letter stated. “This data has been shared with other outside entities (CEIR) for use without oversight or accountability.”

The Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR), a nonprofit organization founded by election law expert David Becker, works to bolster public confidence in U.S. elections — an objective that puts it at cross-purposes with President Donald Trump’s commitment to undermining that confidence.

ERIC and CEIR were also targeted in a Sept. 2 letter to the DOJ from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin that alleged the voter roll maintenance program “exposes millions of citizens’ sensitive private data to unknown contractors.” Mullin also accused ERIC of thwarting the administration’s “efforts to prevent alien voting.”

In response to Mullin’s letter, ERIC said in a statement that it “firmly rejects” allegations that it uses information for partisan purposes. It also pointed to a U.S. district court ruling this year that found similar allegations frivolous and sanctioned the attorneys who made the claims.

Jacob Knutson contributed to this report.