# David Becker > [!dossier] Founder and Executive Director of [[Agency Allotments/Agencies/Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR)|CEIR]]; architect of ERIC at Pew; CBS News election law contributor. Directed **$1.5M to Minnesota's Secretary of State in 2020** and appeared beside Steve Simon at the state's official **April 30, 2026** elections town hall. **Prior vault coverage: zero files in 20,672.** **Up:** [[Actors and Architects/MAIN|Actors and Architects]] --- ## WHY THIS NODE EXISTS David Becker was the single largest hole in the corpus. A full-corpus sweep of 20,672 files returned **zero** hits for "David Becker," "CEIR," or "Center for Election Innovation." He is nonetheless: - the man whose organization sent **$1,500,000** to the Minnesota Office of the Secretary of State in 2020; - the founder of **ERIC**, the interstate voter-data compact Minnesota has belonged to continuously and which Simon called **"invaluable"** in sworn April 2026 congressional testimony; - the only outside figure to appear beside Simon at an official Minnesota SOS public event in the 2026 cycle. Every adjudicated proceeding against him has resolved in his favor. That fact belongs in the record with the same weight as the criticism. --- ## 1. CHRONOLOGY | Period | Role | |---|---| | — | **BA (history) and JD, University of California, Berkeley.** Confirmed by both CEIR's bio and InfluenceWatch, a hostile source — they agree on this | | c. 1996 | Loeb and Loeb, entertainment law — **InfluenceWatch only; not corroborated by CEIR's own bio.** Flagged | | **1998–2005** | **U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Voting Section** — senior trial attorney enforcing the Voting Rights Act across multiple states including California and Georgia. **Lead counsel in *Georgia v. Ashcroft*** (Section 5 redistricting preclearance); won below, lost 5–4 at the Supreme Court in 2003 | | c. 2005–2008 | **People For the American Way** — InfluenceWatch states he became a director in 2005 and registered as a lobbyist 2007–2008. **CEIR's own bio omits PFAW entirely.** The omission is notable but is not itself evidence of anything | | **2008–2016** | **The Pew Charitable Trusts** — Director of Election Initiatives. **"Spearheaded the development" of ERIC** | | **2016–present** | **Founder and Executive Director, CEIR** — announced September 6, 2016, co-founded with **Amy Cohen** (now Executive Director of NASED) | | 2012–**March 2023** | **Non-voting member of the ERIC board** | | ongoing | Member, **National Task Force on Election Crises** | **Compensation:** FY2024 $310,000 · FY2025 **$342,924** (a 10.6% raise in a year CEIR's revenue fell to ~$2.0M and it ran a ~$1.5M deficit). **Book:** *The Big Truth: Upholding Democracy in the Age of "The Big Lie,"* with CBS News chief Washington correspondent **Major Garrett**, Diversion Books, 2022. **Congressional testimony:** House Science Committee, Sept. 13, 2016; House Oversight, Oct. 7, 2021. > [!warning] **Correction to a common claim.** Becker is **CBS News' election law contributor, not MSNBC/NBC.** CBS identifies him on air as "CBS News Election Law Contributor." He appears as a guest on many outlets, but his contractual affiliation is CBS. --- ## 2. THE 2005 DEPARTURE CONTROVERSY — provenance matters This is the core of the circulating criticism, and it must be stated with its provenance attached. **The allegation.** **Bradley Schlozman**, then acting head of the Civil Rights Division, alleged Becker had contacted the City of Boston offering to help it defeat a voting-rights suit *brought by Becker's own employer, DOJ*. Schlozman is quoted calling it **"the most unethical thing I've ever seen"** and describing Becker as a **"hard-core leftist"** who "couldn't stand conservatives." **Hans von Spakovsky** separately asserted that emails showed Becker making "nasty, disparaging remarks about Republicans." **Becker's response:** *"There was no action taken against me by the Department of Justice."* **Critical context on the accuser.** Schlozman is himself the subject of the **2008 DOJ Office of Inspector General / Office of Professional Responsibility joint report on politicized hiring in the Civil Rights Division.** He was later **referred for possible perjury; no charges were brought.** **No OIG or OPR finding adverse to Becker personally could be located.** Becker's assertion that DOJ took no action against him is **unrebutted** in the accessible record. ### 2.1 The "Becker memo" — UNSUBSTANTIATED A document by this name is frequently referenced. **No primary source, no congressional citation, and no journalistic account establishing that such a memo exists as a discrete document could be found.** It does not appear even in InfluenceWatch's otherwise detailed critical treatment. **Treat references to a "Becker memo" as unsubstantiated absent a document.** Most likely a garbled reference to the 2005 Schlozman allegations or to email traffic referenced by von Spakovsky. --- ## 3. ADJUDICATED PROCEEDINGS — every one resolved in his favor | Proceeding | Outcome | |---|---| | **FEC MUR 7854 / 7946** (2020–2022), naming Becker personally | **"No reason to believe" any violation occurred.** Closed July 26, 2022 | | **1789 Foundation / Citizen_AG v. ERIC, CEIR, Becker, WisDOT** (2024–2026) | **Dismissed; plaintiffs sanctioned.** Judge William Conley: "several assertions in plaintiffs' complaint are legally and factually frivolous" (June 2026) | | **Amistad Project suits** (2020) | None succeeded | | **Gableman report** (WI, 2022) — EOLDN allegation | Gableman **surrendered his law license (April 2025)**; three-year suspension approved September 2025, over the very review that produced the allegation | | **Center for Renewing America IRS complaint** (Sept. 2022) | **No IRS action reported. CEIR retains its exemption** | | **Bar discipline** | A California record exists for "David Jonathan Becker #174429" but the profile did not render and identity is unconfirmed. **No discipline found in any source, including hostile ones** | --- ## 4. ERIC **Founded 2012** by chief election officials of seven states — Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, Utah, Virginia, Washington — with assistance from **The Pew Charitable Trusts**. CEIR says Becker "spearheaded development"; InfluenceWatch says Pew "established" it and Becker led the development. **ERIC's own website mentions neither Becker nor his role** — his name appears in neither the FAQ nor the About page. **Governance:** 501(c)(3); each member jurisdiction's chief election official designates a voting board member. New-member fee $25,000; FY2027 dues ~$48,000–$183,000 against a ~$2,500,000 operating budget. Executive Director: **Shane Hamlin**. **Becker's exit.** He served as a **non-voting** board member. Departing states demanded his removal; he **announced he would step down in March 2023**. His departure did not stop the exodus — Ohio and Iowa left the following week. ### 4.1 The exodus — nine states, all Republican-led, over eleven months | State | Effective | |---|---| | Louisiana | Nov. 9, 2022 | | Alabama | Apr. 18, 2023 | | Florida · Missouri · West Virginia | Jun. 3, 2023 | | Iowa · Ohio | Jun. 16, 2023 | | Virginia | Aug. 9, 2023 | | Texas | Oct. 19, 2023 | Ohio SOS **Frank LaRose** wrote he could not "justify the use of Ohio's tax dollars for an organization that seems intent on rejecting meaningful accountability," accusing ERIC of "waging a relentless campaign of misinformation." Politico reported the disputes centered on "what member states are allowed to do with voter data." **Documented consequence:** states that left have struggled to maintain voter rolls without ERIC's interstate cross-matching (Votebeat, Center for Public Integrity). **ERIC as of 2026: 28 member jurisdictions, including Minnesota.** **The first reversal: Virginia rejoined in April 2026** under Gov. Abigail Spanberger, ~2.5 years after its exit. ### 4.2 Minnesota and ERIC **Continuous member. Did not join the exodus.** At the April 16, 2026 House Administration hearing Simon testified he finds ERIC information **"invaluable."** **So Minnesota has been a continuous participant in infrastructure Becker built, throughout the period in which nine other states left over objections to him personally.** --- ## 5. THE MINNESOTA RECORD | Event | Date | Status | |---|---|---| | **CEIR grants $1,500,000 to the MN Office of the Secretary of State** | 2020 | ✅ Documented in CEIR's own report; asterisked "final amount pending"; **retained amount unknown** | | Minnesota declines to ban private election funding (SF 3333 dies in committee; floor amendment voted down) | 2022 | ✅ Documented | | **Becker appears with Simon at the official MN SOS Elections Town Hall** | **April 30, 2026** | ✅ **Documented — and the full transcript is now archived.** ~20 minutes of remarks. See [[Actions At Issue Arguments/Federal Actions/Minnesota Elections Town Hall (April 30 2026)|the event node]] and [[All Links Archives and Actual PDF's/Transcripts/MN Elections Town Hall — Transcript (April 30 2026)|the transcript]] | | Becker and Simon both quoted on withdrawal of federal election-security support from Minnesota | July 2026 | ✅ Documented — **co-appearance in a news story, not a joint event.** Becker: "a huge sea change" | | **Becker at the June 2025 Defending Democracy Summit** | June 2025 | ❌ **NO RECORD.** The Minnesota Reformer's contemporaneous account names Ellison, Simon, Greenman, Sasse and Lacroix. **Becker is not mentioned** | | **Becker at any other Minnesota event, 2016–2026** | — | ❌ **None found** | | **Becker ↔ We Choose Us** | — | ❌ **Affirmatively disconfirmed** | > [!important] **The structural correction this node supplies.** The [[Actions At Issue Arguments/Federal Actions/Lindell–Rosen Referral Letter (July 2026)|Lindell–Rosen letter]] places Becker at a June 2025 coalition summit. The record places him at an **April 2026 official state government town hall**. Both Simon–Becker pairings are real; the letter appears to have attached the 2026 cast to the 2025 event. --- ## 5.1 WHAT HE ACTUALLY SAID IN MINNESOTA — the April 30, 2026 transcript His only substantive Minnesota appearance on record. ~20 minutes. Most of it is litigation analysis, legislative head-counting, and voting-method advice. **Three passages are electoral analysis and belong in the record on their own terms:** - **Redistricting:** *"they are going to be making their state more vulnerable to a wave election ... I expect that high turnout to alter the expectations of those who are drawing the lines, **the partisans who are drawing the lines** ... **So let these states do that to themselves.** ... I expect that politically the outcomes are going to be different than many people expect."* - **The SAVE Act:** *"**There's significant evidence that Republicans could be harmed more by the Save Act than the Democrats would be.**"* - **Closing:** *"the more we see **the administration get desperate**, the more they seem to be **scared about what verdict the voters might render on them this November** ..."* And the GOTV appeal: *"**go recruit other people who you're not sure are going to vote** ... Let's find people that we might politically disagree with and bring them into the process."* **Weighed neutrally.** None identifies a candidate for any office by name; the redistricting analysis concerns other states; the timing is anchored to a non-electoral event (*Louisiana v. Callais* came down the previous day); CEIR neither hosted nor controlled the event; and the GOTV appeal is facially nonpartisan and expressly bipartisan in its framing. **Against that:** Rev. Rul. 2007-41 warns a candidate can be identified "by referring to **political party affiliations**," the remarks came six months before a general election, and they were delivered beside a **declared candidate** for statewide office and are permanently hosted on that state's official YouTube channel. **The question this raises runs against CEIR's exemption, not against Simon** — the § 501(c)(3) theory always runs against the organization. This node records the question; it does not resolve it. Full treatment at [[Actions At Issue Arguments/Federal Actions/Minnesota Elections Town Hall (April 30 2026)|the event node]] §4. **Also verified by the transcript:** the office's own introduction of Becker — CEIR as "nonpartisan nonprofit," seven years in the DOJ voting section covering California and Georgia, the Pew role, the Major Garrett book — **matches this dossier at every point**, which was built independently of it. --- ## 6. PUBLIC POSTURE, 2020–2026 Becker has been a consistent public opponent of election-fraud claims and a documenter of threats against election officials (ProPublica, Texas Tribune, Washingtonian). As of **July 19, 2026** he told CBS's *Face the Nation* that "hardly a week goes by where someone in this administration doesn't threaten election officials with arrests," noted **zero** election officials had been arrested in 18 months, criticized the SAVE citizenship-verification database as incomplete and prone to falsely flagging citizens, and said federal–state election security partnerships had been dismantled — while **predicting the 2026 election would be secure.** CEIR's March 13, 2023 defense of him was signed by **23 Republican and conservative election officials and jurists**, including Brad Raffensperger, Ken Detzner, Trey Grayson, Bill Gates, and retired federal appellate judges **J. Michael Luttig** and **Thomas Griffith**. Its claims: no Soros funding ever; Becker "has never had a job working for a political party or candidate, and does not contribute to any political campaigns"; three of six board members are Republicans. --- ## 7. CROSS-REFERENCES - **Runs:** [[Agency Allotments/Agencies/Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR)|CEIR]] (EIN 81-3815137) - **Built:** ERIC — of which Minnesota is a continuous member - **Appeared with:** [[Actors and Architects/Actors/Steve Simon|Steve Simon]] — [[Actions At Issue Arguments/Federal Actions/Minnesota Elections Town Hall (April 30 2026)|April 30, 2026]] - **NOT connected to:** [[Agency Allotments/Agencies/We Choose Us|We Choose Us]] · [[Agency Allotments/Agencies/ISAIAH|ISAIAH]] — both affirmatively disconfirmed - **At issue:** [[Actions At Issue Arguments/Federal Actions/Lindell–Rosen Referral Letter (July 2026)|Lindell–Rosen Referral Letter]] - **When:** [[2016]] · [[2020]] · [[2022]] · [[2023]] · [[2026]] --- ## SOURCES [CEIR — Becker bio](https://electioninnovation.org/team/david-becker/) · [CEIR — In Support of CEIR and David Becker](https://electioninnovation.org/update/in-support-of-ceir-and-david-becker/) · [FEC MUR 7854/7946](https://www.fec.gov/files/legal/murs/7854/7854_25.pdf) · [ERIC FAQ](https://ericstates.org/faq/) · [ERIC members](https://ericstates.org/about/) · [Ballotpedia — ERIC](https://ballotpedia.org/Electronic_Registration_Information_Center_(ERIC)) · [Ballotpedia News — Virginia rejoins, Apr. 16 2026](https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/04/16/virginia-gov-spanberger-signs-bill-to-rejoin-eric/) · [Pew — Becker, Feb. 2012](https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2012/02/28/david-becker-upgrading-voter-registration) · [Diversion Books — *The Big Truth*](https://www.diversionbooks.com/books/the-big-truth/) · [CBS Face the Nation, July 19 2026](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/chris-krebs-david-becker-election-cybersecurity-face-the-nation-transcript-07-19-2026/) · [CBS Face the Nation, Feb. 8 2026](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/david-becker-election-law-face-the-nation-transcript-02-08-2026/) · [National Task Force on Election Crises](https://electiontaskforce.org/people/david-becker/) · [ProPublica — harassment of election officials](https://www.propublica.org/article/election-administrators-harassment-david-becker) · [Democracy Docket — 1789 Foundation sanctions](https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/court-sanctions-far-right-lawyers-over-frivolous-bid-to-force-wisconsin-out-of-eric/) · [NBC — Schlozman, no charges](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna32637245) · [House Judiciary — 2008 OIG report](https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/conyers-oig-report-confirms-that-perez-cleaned-up-dysfunction-at-doj-voting-section) · [Wisconsin Watch — Gableman license](https://wisconsinwatch.org/2025/04/wisconsin-supreme-court-justice-gableman-law-license/) · [GovTech, July 8 2026](https://www.govtech.com/security/feds-leave-minnesota-to-handle-states-election-security) · [FOX 9 — Simon testimony](https://www.fox9.com/news/mn-secretary-state-testifies-election-security-april-16-2026) · *partisan-critical, flagged:* [InfluenceWatch — David Becker](https://www.influencewatch.org/person/david-becker/) · [The Federalist, Mar. 15 2023](https://thefederalist.com/2023/03/15/democrat-activist-to-resign-from-voter-roll-operation-after-pressure-from-gop-states/) *Built 2026-08-01 · Tier 3 build · [[Actors and Architects/MAIN|↑ Actors and Architects]]* #Actors_and_Architects