GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Clay County will benefit from the state’s decision to join the Electronic Registration Information Center, Supervisor of Elections Chris Chambless said.

Florida became the 30th state last week to join the national database that will crosscheck voter information to eliminate duplicate and outdated records.

ERIC also improves voter registration by providing information for member states to contact potentially eligible but unregistered voters with instructions on how to register to vote. The outreach to potentially eligible voters is conducted every two years ahead of each federal general election.

“What this does is take voter rolls from one location and compares it to another,” Chambless said. “It makes it more pristine. In states that are ERIC states, it can find the inconsistencies in addresses and driver’s licenses. It clears everything up and lessens the chance for voter registration fraud.”

County and state election offices are challenged to keep up with voters who constantly are on the move, Chambless said. When someone moves, they usually don’t notify the previous registration office. That creates the possibility of duplicate registrations, Chambless said, particularly if the voter asks for mail-in ballots.

“There is nothing more important than the accuracy of an election,” Chambless said. “ERIC is more likely to be aware when someone moves than a supervisor of elections.”

Chambless said his office discovered after the 2016 election two Clay County voters also voted in another district.

“One of my administration’s top priorities is protecting the integrity of Florida’s elections, which is why joining ERIC is the right thing to do for our state as it will ensure our voter rolls are up to date and it will increase voter participation in our elections,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “Since taking office, we have been reviewing this issue with Supervisors of Elections. We are confident that by improving the accuracy of our voter rolls, we will reduce the potential for voter fraud.”

At DeSantis’ direction, Secretary of State Laurel M. Lee is currently working with all 67 county supervisors of elections on a Joint Election Security Initiative that will identify any weaknesses or vulnerabilities in Florida’s elections infrastructure.

DeSantis said he will direct a review of the state’s cybersecurity ahead of the 2020 general election.

DeSantis recently supported the redistribution of $2.3 million in unexpended funds to Supervisors of Elections to support their continued efforts to enhance election security. This is in addition to the $2.8 million appropriated by the Florida Legislature for the upcoming fiscal year. In total, the state provided $5.1 million for elections cybersecurity.