Virginia Governor Vetoes Bill to Rejoin Interstate Voter Data-Sharing Program

Gov. Glenn Youngkin argued that the service is expensive, redundant.

Election workers hand out "I Voted" stickers at the VCU Institute for Contemporary Art on Election Day in Richmond, Va., on Nov. 8, 2022. Ryan M. Kelly/AFP/Getty Images

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a measure on March 9 that would restore the state’s partnership with an interstate compact whose stated mission is to help clean voter rolls, saying the service costs too much money.

The vetoed bill concerns Virginia’s membership in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a nonprofit organization that’s intended to help member states keep their voter registration lists up to date by catching duplicate registrations. States that wish to use its service pay to join ERIC and send their statewide voter registration and driver’s license data, allowing ERIC to aggregate data from every member to identify individuals who have moved, died, or registered to vote more than once.