Richmond, Virginia—Glenn Youngkin, who has flirted with Donald Trump’s election denial claims and who campaigned for several prominent election deniers, has vetoed a bill that would have helped Virginia maintain up-to-date voter rolls and prevent election fraud. The Election Registration Information Center (ERIC) database is a bipartisan interstate initiative that allows states to share voter registration records: this, among other things, helps registrars remove people who have moved or died and prevents people from voting in multiple states. In 2023, Glenn Youngkin unilaterally removed Virginia from participation in ERIC after fringe conspiracy theories about the database gained traction among a subset of far-right governors. SB 606, sponsored by Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg, would have rejoined the ERIC database. The bill passed both the House and Senate in February, but was vetoed by the Governor this week.
”By removing Virginia from ERIC, Governor Youngkin is making Virginia’s elections less safe, less secure and is ensuring that our voter roles will contain incorrect information,” said LaTwyla Mathias, Executive Director of Progress Virginia. “He based this decision on unfounded conspiracy theories and debunked claims about the 2020 election, and he’s sacrificing Virginia’s election integrity to curry favor with Donald Trump and his far-right base. We stand with Senator VanValkenburg and will work to help him and his caucus get this important legislation passed next session.”
Background:
- SB 606, sponsored by Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg, passed the House on February 21st and the Senate on February 26th. Governor Younkin vetoed the bill on March 8th.
- Virginia was one of the seven states that helped found ERIC in 2012
- More background on Republican governors’ decision to leave ERIC