WC Wisconsin News

Wisconsin GOP lawmakers are working to pass a constitutional amendment that would ban private entities from funding elections in response to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg providing millions in grant funds to hundreds of localities across the country ahead of the 2020 election.

According to an article published by FOX 6 of Milwaukee, Wisconsin Republican lawmakers recently proposed a constitutional amendment that would make it “unconstitutional to accept private grant money to help administer elections.” This is intended to address concerns with a large private grant given to localities throughout the state prior to the 2020 election.

During the 2020 election year, five major Wisconsin cities received a total of $8.8 million dollars given by the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), a nonprofit organization largely funded by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife. More than 200 communities across the state also collected some of Zuckerberg’s grant money from CTCL. However, Republicans observed that the bulk of the money was sent to cities that voted for President Joe Biden.

These allegations are supported by data compiled by the Capital Research Center which shows CTCL was given $350 million by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in advance of the 2020 presidential election. 

"While state statutes never anticipated this situation, these donations still broke the spirit of our election laws," GOP members wrote in a memo, according to FOX 6. "Voters need to be able to trust that their local election officials are acting in a non-partisan capacity."

An amendment proposed by three Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin accomplishes two things. Secondary to putting a ban on grant funding to administer elections, it also prohibits “anyone who is not employed by state or local government from helping to carry out elections.” Republicans are certain the Democratic Party will not have the votes to stop the amendment from passing.

According to PR Newswire, these funds were pledged to support election infrastructure, including such things as ballot drop boxes, drive-thru voting and more.

"Mark Zuckerberg is providing nearly as much money to this year's election administration as the federal government," Phill Kline Director of The Amistad Project said, according to the press release. "The American people have a right to know what has driven him to take this extraordinary action, and where all the money is going."

The Amistad Project has supporting federal lawsuits to dispute the application of funds from Zuckerberg.

Studies by the Amistad Project show that during the 2016 election, CTCL's 20 largest publicly identified donations, which total $76.5 million, went to regions that Hillary Clinton won.