evidence: This Friday, more than 770 new state laws go into effect, including one requiring Texas to withdraw from an interstate compact that helps members to keep their voter rolls clean. The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) is the lone entity of its kind shown to reduce the few instances of voter fraud that actually exist. But some of the loudest voices calling for improving election integrity are the same ones who demanded Texas pull out of the organization. [...] One of the more notorious aspects of such conspiracy theories focuses on false claims that billionaire George Soros funds the organization. Houston Public Media filed a public records request with the Texas Secretary of State's Office. Virtually every one of the emails to the office regarding ERIC from the first half of the year came from a constituent opposed to the state's membership, citing left-wing influence over ERIC's funding. Often, the emails named Soros specifically. [...] Hamlin responded, "If you're talking about funding from the Open Source Society or whatever George Soros's foundation is, it was not involved in the creation of ERIC."