evidence: For example, Judicial Watch, a conservative nonprofit, recently released a scathing notice calling ERIC "a syndicate founded by leftists." They did so despite having previously agreed to a settlement in their lawsuit against the state of Kentucky over its bloated voter rolls in 2018 which required Kentucky to join ERIC. [...] But those objections — a mix of true and untrue claims — are all conveniently recent, even though little about the program has changed. Prior to Gateway Pundit’s coverage and the ensuing viral misinformation, ERIC’s origins were already known by member states and the public — at least, the members of the public who were interested in something so arcane. Requirements for voter outreach were widely popular, and ERIC’s bylaws spell out data access and security measures, none of which had previously been criticized by the conservative states eager to join the program. ERIC was created in 2012 by seven original members states with assistance from the Pew Charitable Trusts — a nonpartisan nonprofit — which Gateway Pundit and others have falsely claimed is heavily funded by liberal mega donor George Soros.* In reality, the Open Society Foundation, which Soros owns, gave a one-time contribution of half a million dollars to Pew for voting-rights work unrelated to ERIC that took place from 2009 to 2011. The sum makes up a small fraction of the more than $300 million a year Pew brings in annually.