evidence: If AVID sounds like a familiar concept, that’s because it’s meant to replace an existing multi-state collaboration: the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen said as much when he pulled his state out of ERIC in 2023, claiming it’s a puppet of billionaire George Soros, known for funding liberal causes. That’s not the case. ERIC was launched in 2012 as a third-party entity independent from government with financial support from its member states, both Republican- and Democrat-led. ERIC obtains its data from official voter registration and motor vehicle agencies, the Social Security Administration, and the National Change of Address Program of the U.S. Postal Service.