Records Provide More Evidence of How Far-Right Conspiracy Theories Influenced Louisiana’s Departure from ERIC

Text messages we obtained, reported on by Votebeat, provide more evidence of how a falsehood-riddled article on a right-wing website influenced Louisiana’s withdrawal from the nonpartisan Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) in 2022.

In January 2022, the Gateway Pundit — a fringe right-wing website known for publishing conspiracy theories and false rumors — published a series of articles with false claims about ERIC, one of the leading tools election officials have to ensure that they have accurate lists of voter registrations. Gateway Pundit’s series and election-denial misinformation unleashed a movement to pressure conservative states to abandon ERIC.

On Jan. 27, 2022, Kyle Ardoin, then the Louisiana secretary of state, announced that he would be suspending his state’s ERIC membership. At the time, Ardoin’s office told Votebeat the decision had “nothing to do with” the Gateway Pundit articles. 

Records we obtained suggest otherwise. On Jan. 20, 2022 — the day the first Gateway Pundit article was published — Ardoin texted spokesman John Tobler that he wanted to leave ERIC: “I think we suspend our membership in ERIC until we can investigate what they are doing with our data.” Ardoin suggested they draft a press release and send it out the next day.

Tobler then texted a colleague asking to talk about a press release. Tobler included a link to the Gateway Pundit article and wrote, “Apparently, we will be withdrawing from ERIC.”

After Ardoin’s office announced Louisiana’s departure from ERIC, Ardoin asked Tobler and another staffer what news outlets had covered the withdrawal. “What did the Gateway Pundit say?” he asked after Tobler sent a list. “I am sure they went all drama on it.”

American Oversight previously published documents suggesting a strong connection between the initial Gateway Pundit article and Ardoin’s decision. 

On Jan. 21, an official in the secretary’s office forwarded Ardoin a statement from ERIC’s executive director, Shane Hamlin, that addressed falsehoods in the article. That evening, Ardoin replied to top staff in his office: “I’m likely going to suspend our membership until we can make sure our data isn’t being used or supplie[d] to other organizations,” he wrote, indicating he was aware of both the article and ERIC’s refutation. 

That same evening, Ardoin texted voter-fraud alarmist J. Christian Adams, who was quoted several times in the Gateway Pundit articles. Ardoin asked Adams for a call to discuss ERIC, to which Adams responded that he would be available over the next three days. 

We obtained these records as part of our ongoing investigation into states’ withdrawals from ERIC. Learn more about our investigation here and read our in-depth report outlining what we’ve uncovered here.