In the aftermath of widespread voter fraud and other irregularities in the 2020 presidential election, several states and localities have clashed over the banning of private funding of election procedures, a tactic that has come to be known as “Zuckerbucks.”
Just The News reports that, despite official government actions to limit or outright ban the practice, one far-left nonprofit group has been working to use loopholes to subvert such laws and send funding to Democratic counties. The Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), a group which spent nearly $350 million into local elections offices in the 2020 election cycle, has launched a project called the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence (AEE). The CTCL received most of its funding from Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, hence the nickname “Zuckerbucks.”
The AEE will give $80 million over the course of five years to select counties and municipalities “to envision, support, and celebrate excellence in U.S. election administration,” as part of its “Centers for Election Excellence” program.
Critics have pointed out that such funding overwhelmingly went to counties and other localities that lean heavily Democratic in voter registration and voting patterns, with more rural and Republican-leaning counties being shut out, for the sole purpose of artificially boosting Democratic vote totals in key swing states. A subsequent investigation by the House GOP confirmed that, of all such private funds issued during the 2020 election, less than one percent was spent on personal protective equipment.
In response to the widespread criticism, Zuckerberg has since claimed that he has no plans to make further private donations to elections again, calling his efforts in 2020 “a one-time donation to help address the unprecedented challenge of ensuring Americans could safely vote during the height of the pandemic.”
According to Zuckerberg spokesman Brian Baker, Zuckerberg has “not made” and is not “planning to make, any additional donations, including any additional donations to the Center for Tech and Civic Life” in the upcoming 2024 cycle.
Legislation to ban such private funding of elections has been introduced or passed in states such as Montana, North Carolina, and Georgia. Meanwhile, other states such as Michigan have legalized the practice of private donations to election administration.