WASHINGTON, D.C. — Dr. John W. "Rick" Richards Jr. and his son John W. Richards III pitched two new election software programs, ELLY and Psephos, to state election officials in Missouri, North Carolina, and Rhode Island, according to email correspondence and pitch materials. Dr. Richards presented ELLY at an Election Integrity Summit in Washington, D.C. in February 2026.

ELLY and Psephos aggregate public records such as obituaries, U.S. Postal Service data, property tax information, and Google maps data to cross-reference with voter registrations, according to promotional materials. ELLY is marketed to county officials and headed by Dr. Richards, while Psephos is geared toward state-level officials and led by John W. Richards III. John W. Richards III said that both ELLY and Psephos will be presented to the Georgia State Election Board.

The Richards met with Matthew Alsager, the chief of staff to Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, in 2025, according to emails and Zoom records obtained by American Oversight. John W. Richards III discussed Psephos with Kathy Placencia, the Rhode Island state director of elections, according to her email. Dr. Richards pitched ELLY to a staffer at the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

ELLY relies entirely on public records, while Psephos plans to incorporate government and commercial data in addition to public records, according to promotional materials. A promotional document for ELLY stated that volunteers would be made available to help officials administer the program, though the document did not specify the identities of the volunteers.

David Becker, Executive Director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, criticized the approach of using publicly available data. "Even names and birth dates result in huge numbers of false positives, far more false positives than true positives. And so in order to get quality data, you need to have the sensitive information."

The Electronic Registration Information Center is an interstate partnership that uses encoded data-sharing technology to help states update their voter rolls when people move or die in other states. ERIC does not use publicly available data because of a high rate of false positives, according to Becker. Multiple states have left the ERIC partnership after a conservative website falsely claimed that ERIC was helping Democrats and inflating voter rolls.

Michael Flynn, a former Trump national security adviser, convened the Election Integrity Summit where Dr. Richards briefed election activists on ELLY. Trump allies hold a majority on the Georgia State Election Board, where the Richards plan to present their programs.