After months of complaints, Washington, D.C., has corrected its insufficient resident data submissions, temporarily avoiding removal from a national group that maintains accuracy on voter rolls.
The D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles submitted updated files last week to the Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, easing a monthslong dispute that the agency was hindering the district’s ability to maintain accurate voter rolls.
“The DMV has submitted multiple files over many, many months, but each of those files was deficient in some way,” said Shane Hamlin, executive director of ERIC, a nonprofit organization that congregates demographic data nationwide to maintain accurate voter information. “Each time, that file was deficient or the questions weren’t answered to our satisfaction. And we can’t accept data that we don’t believe is accurate or complete or affects the accuracy of the reports we provide both to the Board of Elections in D.C. as well as other states.”
Over the last 18 months, the DMV had erroneously submitted data to ERIC, leading to inconsistent and incomplete reports — putting the district’s membership in question.
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More than 30 states are members of ERIC and submit voter registration data and motor vehicle licensee information at least every 60 days. This information is then used to compile reports showing voters who have moved in and out of state, voters who died, duplicated registrations, and unregistered eligible voters.
However, without accurate information from its members, Hamlin said it puts voter registration data at risk for several states.
“The report identifies voters who have moved from one jurisdiction to another. If D.C. data is inaccurate, then a report to Virginia telling it which voters moved from Virginia to D.C. is not accurate,” he said.
As a result, ERIC warned the district it could be removed as a group member for insufficient data submission — the first time a state or territory has faced expulsion.
The dispute became a focus during an oversight hearing before the D.C. Council on Feb. 9, as Board of Elections Director Monica Evans highlighted the struggles her office has had with the DMV submitting sufficient data.
“Our compliance relies on information from the Department of Motor Vehicles,” Evans said in her testimony. “DMV has not consistently provided this information to BOE since FY2019. We have had intermittent success with getting the necessary information from DMV.”
The DMV reportedly submitted the necessary data to ERIC later that day, avoiding expulsion from the group.
In addition to its inconsistent reports, Evans said the DMV told the BOE it must be compensated $2,000 each month to provide the reports — the first time such a payment has been requested.
When reached for a statement, the DMV simply told the Washington Examiner that it has held up to its expectations.
“Since 2018, DC DMV has had a webservice interface that allows the Board of Elections to access detailed information in real-time for District residents with a driver license or identification card,” the agency said in a statement. “Separate from the information available through the online database, the Board of Elections has requested multiple detailed data reports from DC DMV related to driver license and ID Card holders. DC DMV has provided the Board of Elections with all requested reports and all requested data.”
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Although Washington, D.C., has avoided membership removal for now, Hamlin said the DMV must maintain its sufficient and timely reports for future deadlines.
“Today, we have a file that meets our requirements,” he said. “I am hopeful going forward that future uploads will also meet our requirements and that the Board of Elections and DMV will be able to create a process to produce this file in a very reliable, routine manner that will always meet our requirements.”
