TEXAS, USA —
This year, there is a new system in place to crosscheck the voter registration list in Texas.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 1070 into law earlier this year. It is the result of a Republican-led effort to take the state out of the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC.
ERIC is the national system that keeps track of voter rolls. Advocates of SB 1070 wanted to leave that system so that Texas could have more control over its voter registration lists.
SB 1070 pushes Texas into an alternative system to update the list of registered voters. The new system will check to make sure voters aren't registered to vote in multiple states or jurisdictions by identifying voters whose addresses have changed to make sure they haven't registered more than once.
That data will come from the National Change of Address database.
The new system will also check for voters who have died.
Texas created a new position in the Secretary of State's Office to develop and manage the new interstate voter registration crosscheck program.
Texans are encouraged to register to vote. A big reason some people don't vote is because they miss a deadline to register. Oct. 10 is the last day to register to vote for the upcoming November election.