The NC General Assembly can limit the damage from ERIC, a Soros funded leftist group. Jim Womack, President, North Carolina Election Integrity Team (NCEIT), wrote a letter (see below) outlining why ERIC is bad for NC election integrity and what the legislature can do to box ERIC in to minimize the damage to election integrity. Jim's proposed solutions are what we need to make this an election issue with candidates in November.
Section 26 of HB 103 - NC Budget Bill - gives the "NCSBE the authority to acquire or share highly sensitive information on NC drivers licenses, full social security numbers, or other personally identifiable, private information with this 501(c)3 organization (ERIC) . ... DOT or Social & Health Services data in particular - would be used to help ERIC identify unregistered voters that must be added to our voter rolls (with or without their consent)."
ERIC member agreement allows ERIC to share NC data with other third party organizations (namely the Center for Election Innovation & Research or CEIR), without control or permission from our state authorities. That data will be used to help left-leaning organizations - like CEIR - target unregistered or newly registered voters in NC for absentee by mail flyers, ballot request forms, and leftist materials intended to shape voter opinions."
From: Jim Womack <James.K.Womack@gmail.com> Date: July 12, 2022 at 14:51:42 EDT
To: paul.newton@ncleg.gov, ralph.hise@ncleg.gov, warren.daniel@ncleg.gov, grey.mills@ncleg.gov
Cc: "Rep. John Sauls" <John.Sauls@ncleg.gov>, "Sen. Jim Burgin" <Jim.Burgin@ncleg.gov>, Cleta Mitchell <cleta@cletamitchell.com>
Subject: Limiting the Potential Damage to North Carolina Election Integrity from House Bill 103
Sirs:
Please take a look at the attached Electronic Registration Information System (ERIC) "By-Laws" our state will be asked to accept and specifically the Member Agreement (Exhibit A- pages 13-14) that someone must sign to allow ERIC's review and "list maintenance" of NC Voter files. (View the ERIC Bylaws and Membership Agreement)
I do NOT believe our NCGA was aware they were giving the NCSBE the authority to acquire or share highly sensitive information on NC drivers licenses, full social security numbers, or other personally identifiable, private information with this 501(c)3 organization. Nor do I think the NCGA intends that other NC agency data -- DOT or Social & Health Services data in particular - would be used to help ERIC identify unregistered voters that must be added to our voter rolls (with or without their consent).
Regardless of intent, House Bill 103 appears to give permission for the NCSBE to share data with this non-profit that my (NCEIT) team -- a professional, non-partisan 501(c)4 solely focused on ensuring Election Integrity in our state -- cannot acquire. Moreover, the NCGA is allowing NCSBE to sole source the sharing of this data at great cost (perhaps $25K or more) when NCEIT is available to provide the same (and probably more comprehensive and accurate) list maintenance services AT NO COST TO THE STATE. Further, the ERIC member agreement allows ERIC to share NC data with other third party organizations (namely the Center for Election Innovation & Research or CEIR), without control or permission from our state authorities. That data will be used to help left-leaning organizations - like CEIR - target unregistered or newly registered voters in NC for absentee by mail flyers, ballot request forms, and leftist materials intended to shape voter opinions.
Two weeks ago, I met with Cleta Mitchell, five Secretaries of State (LA, WV, AL, FL, and MO), and reps from several nationally acclaimed election integrity agencies in Washington, D.C. All of us were genuinely concerned with the risks associated with ERIC. Several states are seriously considering withdrawal from ERIC (or limiting their commitments to ERIC) because of the organization's staffing and its ties to corrupt individuals and agencies. Yet, here we are in NC, sending money to an organization known for adding more people to state voter rolls and sharing our voter data with organizations funded by Mark Zuckerberg and George Soros.
Here's my proposal. Exercising your authority for election oversight:
1. Instruct the NCSBE and other state agencies that no data may be shared with ERIC that is not also shared with NCEIT for prospective voter roll clean-up (i.e., list maintenance).
2. Specifically instruct NCSBE and NCDOT/DMV that no NC drivers license data is to be shared with ERIC that is not also shared with NCEIT, and in no case are social security numbers, in whole or in part, to be shared with any outside agency.
3. Instruct NCSBE that House Bill 103 is not to be construed to allow the signing of any member agreements with ERIC without prior review and approval of the respective NCGA election committees. (This is needed to comply with the policy provisions of Section XXI (Part 4) of the budget bill.)
The voters of this state want free and fair elections conducted from verifiably accurate and reliable voter lists. House Bill 103 did not meaningfully change anything other than to guarantee that more voters will be added to our voter rolls- which are already woefully bloated with ineligible or inaccurate records. Please help us to help you fix our voter rolls. And please protect our future elections by consulting with our NCEIT team before granting any further authority to NCSBE in sharing sensitive NC voter info outside our state.
Warm Regards/
Jim Womack
President, North Carolina Election Integrity Team (NCEIT)
www.NCEIT.org
Tel. (919) 770-4783