Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen on Monday announced a new system that he said will improve the accuracy of the state’s voter rolls by providing information the state previously received from an organization that tracked similar information for many states.

Allen, a Republican, withdrew Alabama from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) when he took office in January, following through on a campaign promise that put him at odds with his Republican predecessor, John Merrill, who said ERIC had worked well for the state.

Allen said the new system, the Alabama Voter Integrity Database, AVID, will rely on four sources to identify Alabama voters who have moved out of state or died outside Alabama.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency will identify voters who have obtained a drivers’ license or non-drivers’ IDs in another state. Allen said ALEA has identified 8,041 registered Alabama voters who have gotten a license in another state.

The National Change of Address file will allow the state to compare the voter list with the names of people who have told the U.S. Postal Service that they have moved out of the state. Allen said his office’s IT department has used the file to identify more than 30,000 registered voters who have relocated to another state.

The state has signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas to compare voters lists and identify those registered to vote in Alabama who are also registered in those states. Allen said the analysis of the Tennessee voting lists has found 8,501 people who have registered or voted in Tennessee who are still on Alabama’s voter rolls.

Finally, the state will use the Social Security Death Index to identify people on the voter rolls who have died, including those who died in other states. Allen said the Department of Public Health notifies county registrars when people die in Alabama. The index will allow the state to track registered Alabama voters who die outside the state. Allen said the state is in the final stages of accreditation to use the index.

If AVID identifies a match from ALEA, the National Change of Address file, or the MOUs with other states, the voter will be sent a postcard to the address where they are registered in Alabama. The card, to be mailed by county registrars, will ask the voter to withdraw their Alabama registration if they have moved out of state, or to update their address if they are still in Alabama.

Allen said those voters will be placed on inactive status on Alabama’s voter rolls. If they attempt to vote in Alabama, they will be required to update their registration first.

Allen said the National Voter Registration Act requires states to wait four years before officially removing the names of people from the voting rolls, except for those who have died.

As for the cost of AVID, Allen said the state has paid about a little more than $5,000 to get access to Social Security Death Index and a little more than $7,000 for use of the National Change of Address file.

The state paid about $25,000 for its membership in ERIC. ERIC compares voter lists and other data and reports voter matches and other information to its member states. Twenty-five states are members of ERIC.

Asked why AVID would be better, even though the state has MOUs with only five states at this point, Allen said it was better to get information directly from other states and from ALEA, rather than through a third party. He said his office was working to obtain MOUs to share voter registration rolls with more states.

“We believe in it,” Allen said. “We know it’s going to work. We’ve already identified the first data that’s coming from Tennessee. We’re going to continue to work hard to get other bilateral agreements set up.”

When Allen pledged to withdraw Alabama from ERIC during his campaign in 2022, he tried to link the organization with billionaire George Soros, who funds Democratic causes. Merrill, his predecessor as secretary of state, said there’s no evidence to support claims that Soros was behind the establishment of ERIC.

“That’s a straw man that people have used,” Merrill said Monday.

According to ERIC, the organization was started in 2012 by seven states — Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, Utah, Virginia, and Washington — with help from the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Merrill, who was term-limited after two terms as secretary of state and now works in private business, questioned how a system with five states can provide the same quality of information as ERIC.

“It’s been a great resource for the state of Alabama,” Merrill said.

Allen praised his staff for working hard to set up the AVID system during the eight months since he took office.

“We’re very proud of what we’ve been able to do,” Allen said. “This is going to be the Alabama-based solution that we promised on Day One.”