evidence: The conspiracy theories accused the program, called Electronic Registration Information Center, or ERIC, of trying to manipulate votes, and falsely painted a prominent Democratic donor as a shadowy financier pulling the organization’s strings. [...] The Electronic Registration Information Center is a consortium that started in 2012 when seven states banded together to improve how they remove people who have died or moved from their voter rolls, something federal law requires. Member states fund ERIC through dues. [...] Ashcroft said in an interview he was not motivated by false claims that ERIC was tied to Soros. He said his office had a process to clean voter rolls before it joined ERIC, and since leaving, uses an in-house technology staff. He’s not in a rush to join another database consortium and said that any program he joins would be nonpartisan.