Evaluating Partisan Registrations Amid the Electronic Registration Information Center Controversy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12379027 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jared Mcdonald (0000-0002-2429-271X, University of Mary Washington, corresponding author), Alauna Safarpour (0000-0001-5754-7929, Gettysburg College), Michael J Hanmer (0000-0002-7534-7178, University of Maryland, College Park), Lisa A Bryant (0000-0002-3531-1226, California State University, Fresno) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-8 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-11 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | PS Political Science & Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1049-0965 • E-ISSN: 1537-5935 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1049096525101819 |
| OpenAlex | W7128590793 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 29 |
Election integrity is paramount to democratic health. The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) is a multistate collaboration that facilitates essential election administration functions, whereby members share administrative data to ensure clean voter registration lists and to encourage individuals who are eligible but unregistered (EBUs) to register to vote. Despite ERIC’s primary focus on maintaining the accuracy of voter rolls, in 2022, some conservatives accused it of being a tool for partisan electioneering, prompting nine Republican-led states to leave ERIC. To assess the validity of a central criticism made against ERIC, we leverage field experiments conducted by member states during the 2016 elections in Pennsylvania and Nevada (i.e., two important swing states). We find no empirical evidence to support the claim that outreach to EBUs yielded a partisan advantage: ERIC’s registration efforts had little differential effect on party registration or turnout. This article discusses the importance of efforts to maintain accurate voter rolls and to encourage greater participation for promoting confidence in our democratic system
Center (category theory · Criticism · Democracy · Leverage (statistics · Outreach · Voter registration · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Internet Traffic Analysis and Secure E-voting · Social Media and Politics
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Easy Registration and Voter Turnout
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Mobilization Around New Convenience Voting Methods
The Power of the State
Scalable Protocols Offer Efficient Design for Field Experiments
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The Perverse Consequences of Electoral Reform in the United States
If you ask, they will come (to register and vote)
Party registration and party self-identification
Turnout and the Vote
Estimating the Electoral Effects of Voter Turnout
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |