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Capital Research Center: States Banning or Restricting “Zuckbucks”

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Article: States banning or restricting outside/private funding in elections.

Private financing of government election offices under the guise of COVID-19 relief skewed voter turnout in the 2020 election and may have tipped the presidential election to Joe Biden.

The chief culprit was Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who poured $350 million into one sleepy nonprofit, the Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL). CTCL then distributed grants to hundreds of county and city elections officials in 47 states and the District of Columbia.

Despite its claims that the grants were strictly for COVID-19 relief, not partisan advantage, the data show otherwise. CRC research into grants distributed in key states—Arizona and Nevada, Texas, Michigan and Wisconsin, Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Georgia—has documented their partisan effects. We have also catalogued our major findings at InfluenceWatch.

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The Shasta Scout – Article: County Board is Still Discussing a Nearly Three-Year-Old CTCL Election Grant

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Article: Shasta county still discussing controversial election grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life

In December 2022, the Shasta County Elections Office received good news: a national funding organization known as the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) had offered a $1.5 million grant to Shasta County. Conditions for using the grant required that it support election administration and that it not be used to replace normal budgeted expenses. 

The source of the funding was controversial. CTCL has come under fire because much of the money distributed before the 2020 election came from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. While concerns have been raised about whether CTCL funds might have been used to  influence the 2020 election, the six-member Federal Election Commission, which includes an equal mix of Republicans and Democrats, has unanimously concluded that no evidence of such interference exists.

Shasta County Clerk and Registrar of Voters (ROV) Cathy Darling Allen knew about the controversy related to CTCL when she brought forward a proposal to accept the grant funds a few months later, in February 2023. In a presentation to the Board, Darling Allen said she thought if the Board wished to accept the funds it would be extremely important to use them only for a purchase that could not possibly be connected to partisan purposes.

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The Shasta County Board is Still Discussing a Nearly Three-Year-Old Elections Grant. Here’s What Happened. – Shasta Scout – Reader ModeDownload

The Daily Signal – Article: The Left Lauded Voting by Mail in 2020, but Now It’s a Bipartisan Concern

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Article: Democrat and Republican election officials are raising concerns about whether the U.S. Postal Service is prepared for mail-in ballots. 

In the 2020 presidential election, the Left staunchly promoted voting by mail and scoffed at critics of the option. In 2024, however, Democrat and Republican election officials, as well as an inspector general, are raising concerns about whether the U.S. Postal Service is prepared for mail-in ballots. 

Last week, election officials from both major parties expressed concern about mail-in ballots, the same week the National Letter Carriers Association—which represents 290,000 active and retired mail carriers—endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president. In July, the American Postal Workers Union, representing 200,000 Postal Service employees, endorsed Harris. 

Earlier this year, the Postal Service Office of Inspector General expressed concern about the “risk of delays in the processing and delivery” of election-related mail as well as “operational changes that pose a risk of individual ballots not being counted.”

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The Left Lauded Voting by Mail in 2020, but Now It’s a Bipartisan Concern – Reader ModeDownload
The Federalist – Article: ‘Zuckbucks’ Group Coached Madison Clerk On ‘Combating Election Misinformation’

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Article: City clerk in major swing state Wisconsin received training from a “Zuckbucks” group on “combating election misinformation”

The Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) funneled hundreds of millions of dollars from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to public election agencies in 2020, favoring left-leaning areas in key swing states and boosting Democrat turnout. The group launched the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence in 2022 to coordinate with other leftist groups and “systematically influence every aspect of election administration in target offices,” as revealed in an Honest Elections Project report.

The office of Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl has a history of involvement with both CTCL and the Alliance. After participating in a CTCL training aimed at “combating” so-called “election misinformation,” Witzel-Behl continued to participate in the group’s “misinformation” programming in the months leading up to the 2024 election, emails obtained by The Federalist in a Freedom of Information Act request suggest. Meanwhile, Witzel-Behl’s office recently sent out more than 2,200 duplicate ballots to residents last month.

Witzel-Behl “previously participated in [the group’s] Combating Election Misinformation training,” according to a June 11 email from Andrea Abbate, a CTCL associate director and communications manager. Sophie Lehman, a CTCL associate director, also sent the clerk an email on July 10 promoting an upcoming webinar on “Combating Election Misinformation.”

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Emails_ ‘Zuckbucks’ Group Coached WI Clerk On ‘Misinformation’ – Reader ModeDownload
The Nevada Globe – Article: Douglas County Awarded $50,000 Grant From Mark Zuckerberg’s Nonprofit For Election Security

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Article: The republican stronghold of Douglas County has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life 

The republican stronghold of Douglas County has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL) for election support and security needs ahead of the general election in November. After CTCL donated and directed ~$400 million in “Zuckerbucks” into the 2020 election to support county election offices in primarily blue districts, 28 legislatures have banned the practice of taking nonprofit money to run elections.

The grant was uncovered through an open-records request submitted by Silver State Times. According to the report, Douglas County Grants Administrator Debbie Swickard applied for the grant on August 19, stating:

“As a rural County with limited funding a grant award will help us fill the gaps to purchase needed items for security. Being pro-active to mitigate any possible threat we would like to purchase transport carts for mail ballots and bullet proof glass for our election public counter. We are also in need for tables and shelving systems for our processing facility as well as tables for our vote centers. We are extremely grateful for any funding to help us maintain fair and safe elections for Douglas County.”

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Douglas County Awarded $50,000 Grant From Mark Zuckerberg’s NonProfit For Election Security – Nevada Globe – Reader ModeDownload
Restoration News – Article: Zuck Bucks Live Again in Nevada, Just in Time to Help Kamala’s Failing Campaign

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Article: Once again, Democrats are showing why our country must ban private funding for elections—and they’re using a Republican clerk to prove it

The Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL)—the infamous group behind the 2020 “Zuck bucks” wave of private election grants that boosted Democratic turnout in key states—is at it again, this time with a new grant in Nevada, according to documents obtained by the Coalition Opposing Government Secrecy (COGS), a St. Louis-based government transparency watchdog.

This time, however, it was made possible by a Republican clerk known for castigating her constituents as lying “Kool-Aid drinkers.”

On Aug. 19, CTCL awarded $50,000 to Douglas County, Nevada, for “planning and operationalizing reliable and secure election administration . . . in 2024.” In return, CTCL’s grant application requires Douglas County to surrender information on its election operations, including a post-election report due by Jan. 31, 2025.

This language mirrors grants provided to thousands of county election offices in 2020 from CTCL, which received $350 million from billionaire mega-donor Mark Zuckerberg ostensibly to “fortify” the election amidst COVID-19. In fact, it helped juice Democratic turnout in key swing states, enough to oust President Trump from the White House, as analysis (including my own in early 2021) has demonstrated over and again.

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BREAKING_ Zuck Bucks Live Again in Nevada, Just in Time to Help Kamala’s Failing Campaign – Reader ModeDownload
The Federalist – Article: Here We Go Again: ‘Zuckbucks’ Group Announces Plans To Dump More Cash Into Election Offices

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Article: The Center for Tech and Civic Life, which influenced the 2020 election with “Zuckbucks,” announced another round of grants before November.

The Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), which increased Democratic turnout in 2020 by shuttling “Zuckbucks” to public election offices, will be issuing another round of grants to rural areas ahead of November’s election.

“This program will help eligible rural and nonmetro election offices modernize outdated voting technology, improve access to voting for rural voters, seniors, and veterans, and make much-needed infrastructure updates to enhance election security and make voting smoother,” said CTCL Director Tiana Epps-Johnson in a press release obtained by The Federalist.

Rural officials can apply for grants beginning today, the release said. It is unclear how much money CTCL is planning to distribute to local election offices before the election. 

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‘Zuckbucks’ Group To Dump More Cash Into Election Offices – Reader ModeDownload
The Federalist – Article: Meet The Shadowy Left-Wing Nonprofit Harvesting Voter Data To Juice Democrat Turnout

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Article: A closer look at the VPC reveals how it uses harvested voter data to enhance Democrats’ election machine.

In an era of U.S. elections where ballots — not voters — are the favored currency, nonprofit voter registration has become instrumental in determining which candidate comes out on top at the ballot box.

While conservatives have largely failed to recognize the necessity of such operations in driving Republican voter turnout, leftists haven’t. Unlike their opponents, Democrats have amassed a well-funded machine that’s accumulated their party massive electoral wins in recent cycles, even as the head of their party remains widely unpopular among the American electorate.

Central to Democrats’ efforts is the Voter Participation Center (VPC), a left-wing nonprofit that, despite claiming to be “nonpartisan,” aims to create a “New American Majority” by facilitating “registration of numerous Democratic-leaning voting populations” such as “unmarried women, [racial] minorities and millennials,” according to InfluenceWatch.

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Wisconsin – The Federalist – Article: Left-Wing Nonprofit Interfering In Milwaukee’s 2024 Elections Got $750K From Soros Group

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Article: Soros gave $750K to group interfering in Milwaukee elections

A Democrat-friendly dark money group bankrolling Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s 2024 elections previously received $750,000 from an organization founded by leftist billionaire George Soros.

Earlier this month, Urban Milwaukee revealed that the Democrat stronghold — in a county Joe Biden won by nearly 40 points in the 2020 election — was offered a $786,500 election grant from Cities Forward, a virtually unknown nonprofit organization that markets itself as a “nonpartisan effort focused on helping cities around the country make participation in the democratic process a priority.” According to Claire Woodall, the executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, the funds will be used to purchase new election equipment such as voting machines that print paper ballots and ballot tabulators, among other items.

The Milwaukee Election Commission and the Milwaukee Public Library also accepted a $250,000 grant from Cities Forward. Just the News reported that the grant will go towards a supposedly “non-partisan public education campaign … to increase civic connection among residents” that includes “Encourag[ing] ALL residents to register to vote, sign up to vote by mail, vote early, and update their state ID/driver’s licenses.”

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Georgia – The Federalist – Article: Fulton County’s Election Board Unlawfully Withholding Election Records

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Article: Fulton County Election Board wrongfully withholding records from GOP member

Fulton County’s election board and director are unlawfully withholding election records from a GOP board member, a new lawsuit alleges.

Filed on Tuesday by Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections (BRE) member Julie Adams, a Republican, the suit contends that the board and Elections Director Nadine Williams are preventing Adams from “performing her statutory duties as a BRE member” by denying her “access to essential election materials and processes by which elections in Fulton County are conducted.” Adams was appointed to the position in January and took office the following month.

“Plaintiff swore an oath to ‘prevent fraud, deceit, and abuse’ in Fulton County elections and to ‘make a true and perfect return,’” the lawsuit reads. “These obligations are frustrated by the repeated and continuing refusal to allow Plaintiff access to, and direct knowledge of, the information Plaintiff reasonably believes she needs to execute her duties faithfully and thoroughly.”

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