Wisconsinites have voted to amend their state constitution so election officials cannot use private grants to administer elections and must carry out tasks related to the conduct of elections themselves.
The referendums on the use of private resources in elections were organized in response to the controversial infusion of ‘Zuckerbucks’ into the 2020 election.
The activities of the Mark Zuckerberg-funded Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) in 2020 were ostensibly aimed at improving public access to voting, but in practice, the massive resources they poured into things like increasing absentee ballot drop boxes overwhelmingly benefited Democrats.
Consequently, groups such as the Amistad Project have argued the use of ‘Zuckerbucks’ in previous elections was unlawful because it resulted in Democrat-leaning districts having greater access to vote than Republican-leaning districts.
“Wisconsin has spoken and the message is clear: elections belong to voters, not out-of-state billionaires,” said Brian Schimming, chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party.
“Thanks to the efforts by the Republican Party of Wisconsin and grassroots organizing, Wisconsinites have turned the page on Zuckerbucks and secured our elections from dark money donors,” he added.
