The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a tool for states to securely share voter registration data between each other, as well as DMVs and the Social Security administration, has become a new boogeyman for MAGA conspiracy freaks who recently forced the Louisiana Secretary of State to withdraw from it just a week after a complete bullshit Gateway Pundit article claimed it was some leftist vote-stealing machinery, NPR reports.

“When Louisiana joined ERIC under my predecessor, we did so under the impression that it would enhance the accuracy of our voter rolls and strengthen Louisiana’s election integrity. After reading about these allegations and speaking with election attorneys and experts, I have determined that it may no longer be in Louisiana’s best interests to participate in this organization,” said Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin in a press release. Neighboring Republican Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, whose genitalia did not tuck in when confronted with “concerns” about ERIC, told NPR his office would not be withdrawing. “We have had a number of emails from some very ill-informed, uninformed or uneducated people,” said Merrill, adding “[ERIC] helps identify duplicate registrations. It helps identify dual participation in elections. That’s a concern [and] there’s no other way that any state in the union can do that independently of ERIC.” Merrill is not running for reelection in 2022, and several of the Republican candidates running in the primary to replace him have already signaled they would withdraw Alabama from ERIC if elected.

Worth noting that, without ERIC, the three MAGA assholes (plus a fourth one whose political preference is unknown) in The Villages, Florida who were arrested for double voting in the 2020 election would have gotten away with casting ballots in two different states. But “election integrity.”