{"id":2003650,"date":"2023-08-17T12:54:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T16:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wyoming-secretary-of-state-warns-election-officials-to-repel-dems-blatantly-partisan-dark-money-election-scheme\/"},"modified":"2023-08-17T12:56:01","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T16:56:01","slug":"wyoming-secretary-of-state-warns-election-officials-to-repel-dems-blatantly-partisan-dark-money-election-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wyoming-secretary-of-state-warns-election-officials-to-repel-dems-blatantly-partisan-dark-money-election-scheme\/","title":{"rendered":"Wyoming Secretary of State cautions against Dems&#8217; biased dark money election plan."},"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%2Fwyoming-secretary-of-state-warns-election-officials-to-repel-dems-blatantly-partisan-dark-money-election-scheme%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=2003650&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--><div>\n<div>\n<figure>\n    <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Wyoming Election Official Warns Against Private Funding Influence<\/h2>\n<p>Wyoming\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/we-won-this-race-kari-lake-prematurely-declares-victory-in-arizona-republican-primary\/\" title=\"\u2018We Won This Race\u2019: Kari Lake Prematurely Declares Victory In Arizona Republican Primary\">leading election official<\/a> is sounding the alarm \u200cabout nefarious actors\u2019 attempts to use\u200d private money to influence election administration throughout the state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs Wyoming\u2019s 23\u2064 county clerks continue to prepare for the 2024 \u200dElection, \u2062I am writing to warn and caution against any attempts made \u200cby third\u200b parties to fund the administration of elections\u2063 in Wyoming,\u201d Secretary of State \u2063Chuck Gray wrote in an Aug. 10 <a href=\"https:\/\/sos.wyo.gov\/Media\/2023\/Letter_re-Private-Funding-of-Election-Administration_8-10-2023.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letter<\/a> \u200cto local election officials.<\/p>\n<p>In his warning to \u2063county clerks, Gray specifically highlighted ongoing efforts by \u2063the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/u-s-alliance-for-election-excellence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence<\/a> to use private funds as\u2064 a\u200d means of influencing the electoral process. The Alliance is an $80 \u200cmillion venture funded by\u2062 left-wing nonprofits to \u201csystematically influence every aspect of election administration\u201d and advance Democrat-backed voting policies in local election offices. The organization is comprised of nonprofits such as the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) and the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR), two groups that poured hundreds of millions of dollars from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg into local election offices during the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p>According to Gray, these groups could \u201calso be used as \u200ca conduit for foreign actors to improperly influence American election administration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the ever-changing landscape of new entities pushing \u200dtheir agendas on elections administrators nationwide, local election officials are at a growing risk of these foreign influences should they accept funding in any way,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The hundreds of millions of \u201cZuckbucks\u201d \u200cCTCL and CEIR dumped into local election offices in battleground states around the \u2064country during the 2020 election were ultimately used to\u200d change how\u2063 elections were administered in ways that favored Democrats. Not only \u200bdid the grants go toward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-dekalb-county-officials-skirted-georgia-law-to-acquire-funds-from-left-wing-dark-money-elections-group\/\" title=\"Exclusive: DeKalb County Officials Skirted Georgia Law To Acquire Funds From Left-Wing Dark Money Elections Group\">expanding unsupervised election protocols<\/a> like mail-in \u200dvoting and using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-zuckerberg-bans-president-trump-from-using-facebook-indefinitely\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Zuckerberg Bans President Trump from Using Facebook \u201cIndefinitely\u201d\">ballot drop boxes<\/a>, but they\u200d were\u200c also\u2062 heavily skewed toward Democrat-majority counties, essentially making it a massive, privately funded Democrat get-out-the-vote operation.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, Wyoming is one of just two states that\u200b did not appear to receive any \u201cZuckbucks\u201d from CTCL during the \u20632020 election, with the other being West Virginia.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, \u2064the U.S. Alliance \u2063for \u200bElection Excellence \u2064is attempting to replicate a similar \u200cstrategy\u200d to that of 2020 ahead of the 2024 election. In a recent report, the Honest Elections Project and the John Locke Foundation revealed how the Alliance seeks to provide election offices with \u201cscholarships\u201d to cover \u200cmembership costs, which can then be \u201cconverted\u200d into \u2018credits\u2019 that member offices can use\u2063 to buy services from CTCL and other\u2063 Alliance partners.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the 25 states where \u201cZuckbucks\u201d\u200b are \u2063banned or restricted, the Alliance uses this model \u2064to\u2063 help get around the law. During a previous interview with \u200bThe Federalist, Jason Snead, the executive director of the Honest Elections \u2062Project, explained that since \u200celection offices in these\u2064 states aren\u2019t \u2064authorized to accept or use private money to conduct elections, groups like\u200c CTCL will allow interested offices to \u201cbuy their way [into the Alliance] for a relatively small sum.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This strategy allows \u2062\u201cthe Alliance to spread its\u2064 influence even in\u2064 states\u200d where lawmakers have tried to prevent it,\u201d Snead said.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, legislative efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bills-banning-drop-boxes-and-private-election-grants-sent-to-arkansas-gov-sanders-to-sign\/\" title=\"Bills Banning Drop Boxes and Private Election Grants Sent to Arkansas Gov. Sanders to Sign\">ban private election funding<\/a>\u2063 in Wyoming have been unsuccessful in the state\u2019s Republican-dominated House and Senate. A bill drafted\u200d during this year\u2019s \u200csession that would ban the practice was never considered for introduction \u2062by the House, while a similar measure died in committee during the 2021 session.<\/p>\n<p>In an\u200c effort to shore up the integrity of Wyoming\u2019s elections\u200c ahead of the 2024 contest, Gray \u200chas \u2064reportedly asked the Joint \u2063Corporations, Elections and Political \u2062Subdivisions \u200bCommittee to \u201cdraft legislation \u2063addressing\u201d the issue of private election funding and indicated in his letter to county clerks that the \u201cbill will be discussed on August 24.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShould\u2063 any third-party entity or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wyoming-secretary-of-state-warns-election-officials-to-repel-dems-blatantly-partisan-dark-money-election-scheme\/\" title=\"Wyoming Secretary of State cautions against Dems' biased dark money election plan.\">organization solicit county clerks<\/a> to fund election administration, please notify me immediately for further investigation,\u201d Gray\u200d wrote.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action\u2062 and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wyoming&#8217;s top election official raises concerns over private funding influencing state-wide election administration. Urging caution, the official warns against third-party attempts to finance the upcoming 2024 Election preparations by the state&#8217;s 23 county clerks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2003651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2003650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003650","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\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2003650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2003650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2003651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2003650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2003650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2003650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}