The Republican-controlled Utah House voted on Friday 59-13 to pass HB332. It now goes to the Senate for further consideration. If it’s passed by the full Utah Legislature and signed by Gov. Spencer Cox, Utah would become the next state to separate from the national Electronic Registration Information Center, known as ERIC, a nonprofit meant to help states maintain their voter rolls by sharing information across state lines.

With HB332, House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, wants to set new requirements for the lieutenant governor to report on efforts to maintain accuracy of voter rolls.

It would also require the lieutenant governor to withdraw Utah from ERIC by July 6. In its place, the state’s top election official would have the option to enter into agreements with other states to share information or contract with a different third party to maintain voter rolls.

Lisonbee wants Utah to follow in the footsteps of 10 other states that have separated from a national organization that uses voter registration data from 24 member states (plus Washington, D.C.) to help maintain their voter rolls.

The nonprofit used to be noncontroversial — but Republican attitudes toward the program have shifted in recent years, Stateline reported, “with the rise of disinformation surrounding the country’s election systems, fueled by criticism from former President Donald Trump and his allies. Trump falsely claimed that ERIC ‘pumps the rolls’ for Democrats and does nothing to clean them up.”

Last year, that movement touched down in Utah when several Utah Republican county parties passed resolutions urging Utah’s top election officials to end the state’s membership with ERIC. At the time, Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson posted a thread on X explaining ERIC’s role and describing the attacks against it as nonfactual.

“ERIC has become a favorite boogeyman of the radical election deniers,” Henderson — a Republican — wrote at the time. “But their claims are not based in fact, and their demands are counterproductive to their rhetoric.”

Lisonbee, however, urged her fellow House members to support her bill, arguing ERIC hasn’t done enough to keep voter rolls clean in and out of Utah. She pointed to a 2022 Election Administration and Voting Survey report that found the year after 43.8 million Americans moved, only 5.1 million voters were removed from voter rolls for moving out of state, and 4.8 million more were removed for failing to confirm their registration.

“In many states our voter rolls are not being maintained, and when we compare our data with them through nonprofit organizations like ERIC, it’s garbage in garbage out,” Lisonbee said. “We’re not getting good data back and we’re not able to really maintain and clean our voter rolls.”

Lisonbee said the rest of her bill is also focused on acting on several recommendations legislative auditors listed in a recent audit report that concluded Utah faces no “significant fraud,” but found some errors on Utah’s voter lists. That audit found 1,400 “likely matches” to deceased voters that hadn’t been removed, with 700 that were marked as “active” voters. Auditors found that ballots were cast for two voters that matched as “deceased” in the November 2023 election.

Along with Democrats, some Republican House lawmakers expressed concerns with Lisonbee’s bill. Rep. Paul Cutler, R-Centerville, proposed a change to require the lieutenant governor to withdraw from ERIC no later than 60 days after she enters into data-sharing agreements with at least six other states.

Cutler said lawmakers should “be smart” and listen to county clerks concerned about pulling out of ERIC before Utah has an agreement with other states in place to replace its data sharing capabilities.

“Our county clerks would like us to get new agreements in place before we completely break (ties with ERIC),” Cutler said, though he said he agrees Utah should separate from the nonprofit.

Lisonbee, however, said she’d “strongly resist” Cutler’s proposed changes, indicating she doesn’t believe Henderson would break with ERIC unless forced to do so.

“Making the exit from ERIC conditional on an action by the lieutenant governor means that we will never get out of ERIC,” Lisonbee said.

Lisonbee then went on to describe an exchange she had with Henderson last year before unveiling her bill.

“I had a phone call with the lieutenant governor this summer. She indicated that I didn’t need to run a bill, that she would get us out of ERIC,” Lisonbee said. “After that phone call, I started working on the bill, but I sent it to her before I made it live and I said, ‘lieutenant governor, out of respect for you, here’s the bill, how would you like this to go?’ … Her response back was, ‘What are your concerns with ERIC?'”

Lisonbee said she has made her concerns clear, and that she believes many other lawmakers in the House “share those concerns.”

“This is not an offense — or not to undermine the lieutenant governor’s efforts,” Lisonbee added. “I think she wholeheartedly believes ERIC is a useful tool. I do not. It’s up to the will of the body whether they do.”

Lisonbee urged House lawmakers to not pass Cutler’s versions, arguing against “making this conditional on an action by somebody who has shown reticence” about leaving ERIC.

Cutler’s proposed change failed on a voice vote; he ultimately voted in favor of the bill, along with his fellow Republicans. Democrats voted to oppose.

Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.