Gov. Abigail Spanberger has ordered Virginia's return to the Electronic Registration Information Center, a multistate voter data partnership that her Republican predecessor withdrew from in 2023.
Virginia was one of ERIC's founding members in 2012 under Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell. The members of ERIC — 25 states and the District of Columbia — share registration data and other reports with each other to improve the accuracy of their voter rolls.
Glenn Youngkin's administration left ERIC in May 2023, citing increased costs and "concerns regarding stewardship, maintenance, privacy, and confidentiality of voter information." Virginia was the eighth Republican-led state to exit the compact after it became the focus of far-right conspiracy theories.
Spanberger, a Democrat, signed the executive order on Tuesday. It requires Elections Commissioner Steve Koski to send the governor written notice within 30 days confirming that Virginia has begun the process to rejoin ERIC.
"The actions Virginia is taking today are not only critical to allowing all eligible Virginia voters to register and cast their ballot, but to making sure that only Virginians who are eligible to vote are able to vote in our Commonwealth — this year, and in every election into the future," Spanberger said in a statement.
The governor's directive makes changes to voting-related executive orders from Youngkin and adds new rules for state agencies. It directs the Virginia Department of Elections (ELECT) to ensure that any program that systematically removes ineligible voters from the state's registration system comes at least 90 days before a federal primary or general election.
It also requires state agencies that register people to vote, such as the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, post information regarding election-related offenses and punishments.
The DMV must also certify that it has shared information daily with the elections department on new eligible voters, voters who have moved, ineligible voters and updates to voter registrations.
Last year, Youngkin issued an executive order directing removal of non-citizens. It ordered that Virginia expand its use of the US Department of Homeland Security's Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database to identify non-citizens on the state's voter list.
Under Spanberger's order, Koski will have to review all ongoing partnerships with DHS and the US Election Assistance Commission to make sure data sharing complies with state law and if it will be "necessary or appropriate after Virginia rejoins ERIC."
The action comes amid pressure from President Donald Trump's administration to hand over sensitive voter data — including names, addresses, Social Security numbers and drivers' license numbers. The US Justice Department sued Virginia in January over the commonwealth's refusal to hand over the data.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, at least 12 states have either complied or promised to comply with Trump's demands: Oklahoma is the most recent, agreeing to share the sensitive information in a settlement with the DOJ on Tuesday.
Under that agreement, federal officials agreed not to use the data for any purpose other than election integrity review.
The Trump administration's push for information has raised concerns of the data being used to drive deportation efforts and increase federal control over elections, which are traditionally run by states.
Susan Beals, the ELECT commissioner under Youngkin, outlined why Virginia was leaving the multistate compact in a 2023 letter to ERIC's executive director. Beals noted the seven other states that had left ERIC at that point, writing that it would lead to uncertain costs for the remaining members.
Another reason she listed: "Controversy surrounding the historical sharing of data with outside organizations leveraged for political purposes."
Months after Virginia exited ERIC, VPM News reporting led to the state's identification of approximately 3,400 people who had their voting registrations erroneously removed from the state's rolls due to probation violations.
The state inspector general later issued a report that the voter purge — which near-exclusively impacted individuals whose voting rights had been restored after felony convictions — was accidental.
"When Virginia withdrew from ERIC in May 2023, it became more difficult for Virginia's election administrators to obtain information to help maintain Virginia's voter rolls and otherwise engage in routine voter list maintenance," Spanberger wrote in her order, citing election officials' ability to identify voters who moved out of Virginia.
The commonwealth still maintains individual voter data sharing agreements with some states — including those still in ERIC like Georgia and South Carolina — Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Ohio, Texas and the District of Columbia.
Spanberger's order calls for a review of all possible cases of illegal voting identified by ERIC and by other states that Virginia has agreements with.
There have been at least two recent voter fraud cases in Virginia.
In December 2025, former Blacksburg town council member Liam Watson, also a former spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Virginia, was found guilty on two counts of federal election fraud. Watson registered to vote at a Blacksburg address he never lived at, and didn't live in the town during his campaign for council. His lawyer argued he didn't realize he had committed a crime.
Another case, involving a locally prominent Trump supporter in Nelson County, ended with a not guilty verdict.
Richardson Carter Bell Jr. voted early in the November 2023 general election — and attended his polling place three days later, on Election Day, where he showed his ID to poll workers there. He was flagged by the system as having returned his ballot already.
Bell said he had no intent to vote a second time and was trying to expose loopholes in Virginia's election system, but was charged for attempting to vote twice. A jury ruled him not guilty.
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