{"id":1508628,"date":"2022-06-09T07:35:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-09T11:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1508628"},"modified":"2022-06-09T09:13:22","modified_gmt":"2022-06-09T13:13:22","slug":"study-team-zuckerberg-masking-heavily-pro-democrat-tilt-of-2020-election-zuck-bucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/study-team-zuckerberg-masking-heavily-pro-democrat-tilt-of-2020-election-zuck-bucks\/","title":{"rendered":"Study: Team Zuckerberg Masking Heavily Pro-Democrat Tilt Of 2020 Election \u2018Zuck Bucks\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fstudy-team-zuckerberg-masking-heavily-pro-democrat-tilt-of-2020-election-zuck-bucks%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1508628&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The $332 million that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan provided to a progressive group to help run the 2020 elections was distributed on a highly partisan basis that favored Democrats, according to a new analysis by election data experts.<\/p>\n<p>While these \u201cZuckerbucks\u201d or \u201cZuck bucks\u201d were touted as a resource meant to help all jurisdictions administer the election during Covid lockdowns, tax records filed by the progressive Center for Tech and Civic Life show that the group \u201cawarded all larger grants \u2013 on both an absolute and per capita basis to deeply Democratic urban areas,\u201d particularly in swing states, according to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dropbox.com\/s\/87fio8a70lr5rpb\/Doyle%20%26%20Oliver%20%282022%29.pdf?dl=0\">new report<\/a>. Its authors are William Doyle, research director at the right-leaning Caesar Rodney Election Research Institute, and Alex Oliver, chief data scientist at Evolving Strategies, a nonpartisan research group.<\/p>\n<p>The report contrasts with a report Zuckerberg commissioned in December, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/politics\/zuckerberg-funded-elections-group-awarded-more-grants-to-gop-counties\/ar-AARRjS7\">emphasized<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cmore Republican jurisdictions, defined as municipalities that voted for Trump in 2020, applied for and received grants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Doyle and Oliver say this conclusion is misleading because Republican jurisdictions were far more likely to receive grants of less than $50,000, which, they wrote, were \u201clikely not substantial enough to provide the funding, infrastructure, and personnel to materially change election practices in the recipient jurisdiction.\u201d These small grants comprised 27% of the center\u2019s awards.<\/p>\n<p>In the counties where CTCL made its 50 largest grants in terms of per capita spending, the average partisan lean in favor of Democrat Joe Biden over Republican Donald Trump was 33 points \u2014 meaning the aid could be expected to stimulate more Democratic votes. Twenty-five of the top 50 grants per capita went to just five states: Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida, and Texas (the latter two where \u201cDemocrats were optimistic about Biden\u2019s chances,\u201d the authors write).<\/p>\n<p>Seven of the top ten largest grants per capita went to counties in Georgia and Wisconsin, states that Biden narrowly won by 12,000 and 21,000 respectively. (Along with the report, Evolving Strategies has put together\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/es-data.shinyapps.io\/ctcl\/\">an online map and visualization app<\/a>\u00a0that tracks CTCL\u2019s top 100 grants on a per capita basis.)<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-273712\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Hemingway1.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Hemingway1.png 750w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Hemingway1-300x200-1.png 300w\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"501\" \/><figcaption class=\"col-12 col-md-6 body-xs px-15 pe-md-0 ps-md-30 py-15 m-0 text-center\">From the Evolving Strategies report.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe distribution of the CTCL program\u2019s grant\u00a0<em>amounts<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 both in absolute and per capita terms \u2013 shows, unequivocally, a systematic bias in favor of Democratic jurisdictions,\u201d they write. The larger grants revealed a \u201cpartisan pattern of funding [that] was especially apparent in swing states. Regardless of intention, CTCL\u2019s geographic allocation of larger grants is\u00a0<em>prima facie<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>de facto<\/em>\u00a0partisan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before 2020, the private funding of election administration was virtually unheard of. Against positive coverage of the development in liberal news media, conservative activists sounded the alarm about CTCL\u2019s efforts. \u201cPrivatizing the management of elections undermines the integrity of our elections because private donors may dictate where and how hundreds of millions of dollars will be managed in these states,\u201d Phill Kline of the Thomas More Society\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/zuckerberg-chan-elections-facebook\/2020\/10\/12\/0e07de94-0cba-11eb-8074-0e943a91bf08_story.html\">told the Washington Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2020, 17 states have effectively banned the private funding of local election offices either through new laws or regulations. Two other states, Alabama and Missouri, are awaiting the governor\u2019s signature on similar bills.<\/p>\n<p>The center and its defenders have argued that it is only logical that urban areas, which tend to support Democrats, would get more grant money, simply because they have more voters. But Doyle and Oliver\u2019s analysis shows that those areas received more funding on a per capita basis.<\/p>\n<p>While the grant size for urban areas might naturally be larger overall, they said, areas with high concentrations of voters should result in economic efficiencies where \u201csubstantial fixed cost of election administration is spread out over a relatively larger population, decreasing the per capita cost.\u201d If anything, they said, per capita costs of running an election should be higher in more rural Republican areas.<\/p>\n<p>The report showed that Georgia alone received 10 of the top 50 grants per capita, totaling $41 million \u2014 more than 10% of the $332 million CTCL spent across the country. Nine of those grants went to counties with an average partisan lean of 35 points in favor of Joe Biden.<\/p>\n<p>The center awarded a total of $10.1 million in grants in Wisconsin, but $8.5 million of that went to the cities of Green Bay, Kenosha, Madison, Milwaukee, and Racine \u2014 cities where Biden\u2019s average margin of victory was over 37 points. All five cities ranked on CTCL\u2019s top 50 per capita grants.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, Pennsylvania had four of the top 50 per capita grants, amounting to $16 million. Some $15 million of those grants went to Philadelphia and to Delaware and Chester counties in the Philadelphia metro area.<\/p>\n<p>The Philadelphia vote favored Biden by 64 points, and Delaware and Chester voted Biden by 27 and 17 points, respectively. Biden won Pennsylvania by just 1.2 points, so the victory might have been sealed by the influx of cash from private sources to the Philadelphia region, the state\u2019s biggest cache of votes, which also has a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpolitics.com\/articles\/2020\/09\/25\/warning_signs_in_pennsylvania_of_mail_ballot_chaos_in_november_144299.html\">history of corruption and electoral fraud<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The CTCL did not respond to RealClearInvestigations\u2019 request for comment. Its executive director, Tiana Epps-Johnson,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2022\/02\/16\/election-funding-midterms\/\">told the Washington Post in February<\/a>\u00a0that the grants given out \u201creflected where the requests for funding came from, not any bias on the part of her organization.\u201d But the center has offered no insight into its internal process for awarding grants.<\/p>\n<p>An\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/broadandliberty.com\/2021\/10\/13\/network-of-dark-money-groups-implemented-selective-election-grant-process-favoring-democratic-leaning-counties-emails-show\/\">investigation by Broad and Liberty<\/a>, a right-leaning publication dedicated to Pennsylvania politics, obtained emails showing that the office of Pennsylvania\u2019s Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf coordinated with left-wing nonprofits to implement a secretive process that selectively invited Democratic counties to apply for \u201cZuck bucks\u201d grants.<\/p>\n<p>The center did not just award money to counties and cities that applied for grants. In many cases it embedded progressive activists into key local election offices to shape how elections were run. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, emails to the mayor\u2019s office from the center touted its\u00a0 \u201cnetwork of current and former election administrations and election experts available\u201d to build up \u201cvote by mail processes\u201d and \u201censure forms, envelopes, and other materials are understood and completed correctly by voters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a July 13, 2020 email to the center<strong>,<\/strong>\u00a0Celestine Jeffreys, chief of staff for Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich, wrote, \u201cAs far as I\u2019m concerned I am taking all of my cues from CTCL and work with those you recommend.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-273713\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Hemingway2.png\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Hemingway2.png 750w, https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Hemingway2-300x55.png 300w\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"137\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Eventually the center helped install an out-of-state operative named Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein in Green Bay and other Wisconsin election offices, who engaged in activities unusual for someone other than a public official, such as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.maciverinstitute.com\/2021\/05\/emails-show-likely-illegality-in-the-way-milwaukee-ran-the-presidential-election\/\">asking for direct access to the Milwaukee Election Commission\u2019s voter database and other sensitive data<\/a>. Spitzer-Rubenstein became so active in running Green Bay\u2019s election that City Clerk Kris Teske, unhappy with being replaced in her job, took leave a few weeks before the election and quit shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was verbally abused by the Mayor in front of everyone, \u201d she\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/fox11online.com\/news\/local\/green-bay\/former-green-bay-clerk-accuses-genrich-of-verbal-abuse-hr-director-denies-her-claims\">reportedly wrote<\/a>\u00a0in one email. \u201c\u2026He had agenda when it came to the election and I nor the Clerk\u2019s Office were included even though it\u2019s the Clerk\u2019s job to administer an election. He allowed staff who were not educated on election law to run the election, along with people who weren\u2019t even City of Green Bay employees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though technically considered a nonpartisan organization, CTCL\u2019s leadership team has an extensive history of working with the Democratic Party and leftist causes. Epps-Johnson founded the organization with Whitney May and Donny Bridges. All three previously worked together at the New Organizing Institute, which the Washington Post\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/the-switch\/wp\/2014\/07\/08\/inside-the-democratic-partys-hogwarts-for-digital-wizardry\/\">described as<\/a>\u00a0\u201cthe Democratic Party\u2019s Hogwarts for digital wizardry\u201d and the \u201cleft\u2019s\u00a0think tank\u00a0for\u00a0campaign\u00a0know-how.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A further Democratic-Zuckerberg intersection: Former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe is listed as head of policy and advocacy at the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chan_Zuckerberg_Initiative\">Chan Zuckerberg Initiative,\u00a0<\/a>the power couple\u2019s philanthropy. In his 2020 book, \u201cA Citizen\u2019s Guide to Beating Donald Trump,\u201d Plouffe\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=6JDODwAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PA111&amp;lpg=PA111&amp;dq=david+plouffe+and+%E2%80%9Cmay+come+down+to+block-by-block+street+fights+in+Detroit,+Philadelphia,+and+Milwaukee.%E2%80%9D&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=brfmC_gF5T&amp;sig=ACfU3U1F6DCnpr4JqU8ReHOq_Psl4uzv1A&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwj38_DK8o74AhUMTDABHf_JCPwQ6AF6BAgCEAM#v=onepage&amp;q=david%20plouffe%20and%20%E2%80%9Cmay%20come%20down%20to%20block-by-block%20street%20fights%20in%20Detroit%2C%20Philadelphia%2C%20and%20Milwaukee.%E2%80%9D&amp;f=false\">wrote<\/a>\u00a0that the 2020 election \u201cmay come down to block-by-block street fights in Detroit, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Republished <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearinvestigations.com\/articles\/2022\/06\/07\/team_zuckerberg_masks_the_heavily_pro-democrat_tilt_of_2020_election_zuck_bucks_study_finds_835470.html\">from RealClearInvestigations<\/a>, with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">Mark Hemingway is the Book Editor at The Federalist, and was formerly a senior writer at The Weekly Standard. Follow him on Twitter at <b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/heminator\">@heminator<\/a><\/b><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The $332 million that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan provided to a progressive group to help run the 2020 elections was distributed on a highly partisan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":274,"featured_media":1508645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1508628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1508628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/274"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1508628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1508628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1508645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1508628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1508628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1508628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}