{"id":2222967,"date":"2024-04-17T06:49:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T10:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotland-county-missouri-becomes-latest-locality-to-ditch-zuckbucks-2-0-group\/"},"modified":"2024-04-17T06:51:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T10:51:00","slug":"scotland-county-missouri-becomes-latest-locality-to-ditch-zuckbucks-2-0-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotland-county-missouri-becomes-latest-locality-to-ditch-zuckbucks-2-0-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Scotland County, Missouri Joins Movement Against \u2018Zuckbucks 2.0\u2019 Group"},"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\">18<\/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%2Fscotland-county-missouri-becomes-latest-locality-to-ditch-zuckbucks-2-0-group%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=2222967&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>Scotland County, Missouri, has withdrawn from a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-grassroots-anti-israel-group-is-actually-part-of-a-left-wing-dark-money-behemoth\/\" title=\"This Anti-Israel Group is Part of a Left-Wing Dark Money Behemoth.\">left-wing dark-money organization<\/a> influencing local election administration. The County Clerk disclosed the non-renewal of its U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence membership in\u200b 2024. Despite leaving, the county remains on the Alliance&#8217;s list. The decision was \u2063linked to \u2064the clerk&#8217;s resignation. Boone County, on the other hand, \u200bcontinues its Alliance participation without grant funding.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<figure>                         <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Scotland County, Missouri, has exited a left-wing dark-money organization that aims to influence local election administration, The Federalist has learned.<\/p>\n<p>Scotland County Clerk Batina Dodge confirmed to The Federalist that the locality did not renew its membership with the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence for 2024. As The Federalist previously reported, the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/u-s-alliance-for-election-excellence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alliance<\/a> is an $80 million <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/01\/20\/inside-democrats-newest-election-takeover-scheme-report-unmasks-dark-money-group-youve-probably-never-heard-of\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">venture<\/a> launched in 2022 by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/eyeing-supreme-court-vacancy-left-wing-dark-money-group-pushes-ketanji-brown-jackson-for-top-appeals-court\/\" title=\"Eyeing Supreme Court Vacancy, Left-Wing Dark Money Group Pushes Ketanji Brown Jackson for Top Appeals Court\">left-wing nonprofits<\/a>\u00a0such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/center-for-tech-and-civic-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL)<\/a> to \u201csystematically influence every aspect of election administration\u201d and advance Democrat-backed voting policies in local election offices.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/U.S._Alliance_for_Election_Excellence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ballotpedia<\/a>, Scotland County was one of several localities named as part of the Alliance\u2019s 2023 cohort. Notably, neither Scotland County nor Boone County \u2014 another Missouri jurisdiction participating in the Alliance \u2014 were included in the coalition\u2019s November 2022 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wect.com\/2022\/11\/23\/brunswick-county-named-one-10-centers-election-excellence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announcement<\/a> of participating localities.<\/p>\n<p>During the 2020 election, CTCL and the Center for Election Innovation and Research collectively received <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techandciviclife.org\/100m\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hundreds of millions of dollars<\/a> from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. These \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/10\/12\/the-2020-election-wasnt-stolen-it-was-bought-by-mark-zuckerberg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Zuckbucks<\/a>\u201d were poured into local election offices in battleground states around the country to change how elections were administered, such as by <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 voting and the use of ballot drop boxes. To make matters worse, the grants were heavily skewed towards Democrat-majority counties, essentially making it a massive Democrat get-out-the-vote operation.<\/p>\n<p>Leading up to the 2020 contest, CTCL distributed <a href=\"https:\/\/capitalresearch.org\/article\/which-states-did-ctcl-flood-with-zuck-bucks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">roughly $6.8 million<\/a> \u201cZuckbucks\u201d to local election offices in Missouri, according to figures from the Capital Research Center. This prompted state Republicans\u00a0to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/05\/20\/missouri-legislature-takes-an-axe-to-zuckbucks-in-state-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pass<\/a> HB 1878, which stipulates that \u201cneither the state of Missouri nor any political subdivision thereof that conducts elections shall receive or expend private moneys, excluding in-kind donations, for preparing, administering, or conducting an election, including registering voters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dodge said Scotland County\u2019s decision to let its membership with the Alliance expire stemmed from her decision to resign as clerk at the end of the month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter months of consideration, I have resigned my position as Scotland County Clerk effective April 30, 2024, to accept another job offer outside of elections,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cAs such, the County did not renew its membership with the Alliance as I did not want to commit my successor to participate in something to which he or she had no part of the decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dodge said her successor has yet to be named.<\/p>\n<p>Despite its exit from the coalition, Scotland County, as of this article\u2019s publication, has not been removed from the list of participating offices on the Alliance\u2019s website. CTCL did not respond to The Federalist\u2019s request for comment on why Scotland County is still listed as a participating office. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Boone County is still an active Alliance participant. Clerk Brianna Lennon told The Federalist that Boone County is \u201ca member of the Alliance for Election Excellence\u201d and claimed the locality \u201cdoes not receive grant funding from the Alliance,\u201d citing Missouri\u2019s \u201cZuckbucks\u201d prohibition. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe membership gives us access to subject matter experts that are current or former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/group-our-vote-matters-is-suing-facebook-dominion-mark-zuckerberg-certain-state-officials-others-for-infringing-upon-right-to-vote-assemble-and-speak-freely-you-can-jo\/\" title=\"Group \u201cOur Vote Matters\u201d Is Suing Facebook, Dominion, Mark Zuckerberg, Certain State Officials, Others for Infringing Upon Right to Vote, Assemble and Speak Freely \u2013 You Can Join Too\">local election officials<\/a> on administrative areas like poll worker recruitment (finding enough election judges, especially judges that affiliate as Republicans, is a perennial problem for us) and better ways to design forms and applications so that voters can understand them,\u201d Lennon said. <\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honestelections.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/HEP_Locke_Alliance-for-Election-Excellence-Report-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2023 report<\/a> published by the Honest Elections Project (HEP) and John Locke Foundation noted how the Alliance has sought to provide election offices with \u201cscholarships\u201d to cover membership costs, which can then be \u201cconverted into \u2018credits\u2019 that member offices can use to buy services from CTCL and other Alliance partners.\u201d HEP Executive Director Jason Snead explained in a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/03\/15\/records-missouri-county-used-taxpayer-money-to-join-democrats-private-election-takeover-scheme\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">previous interview<\/a> with\u00a0The Federalist that CTCL \u201cpivoted\u201d to \u201ca fee-based membership model\u201d as a way of skirting state restrictions on private funding of election offices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor jurisdictions that are permitted to receive grants, those fees are effectively waived. But jurisdictions that cannot receive private grants can still buy their way in for a relatively small sum, allowing the Alliance to spread its influence even in states where lawmakers have tried to prevent it,\u201d Snead explained.<\/p>\n<p>Scotland County\u2019s departure from the Alliance comes a month after The Federalist revealed that <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/01\/weber-county-utah-is-fourth-county-in-four-months-to-exit-zuckbucks-2-0-group\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Weber County, Utah<\/a>, had exited the coalition. The Federalist also previously discovered that <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/02\/16\/cache-countys-exit-from-zuckbucks-2-0-group-puts-utah-a-step-closer-to-safe-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cache County, Utah<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/01\/19\/exclusive-north-carolina-counties-withdraw-from-democrats-zuckbucks-2-0-dark-money-group\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Brunswick and Forsyth Counties, North Carolina<\/a>, withdrew from the Alliance in recent months. <\/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 and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scotland County, Missouri, recently left a left-wing undisclosed funding organization targeting local election administration. County Clerk Batina Dodge confirmed non-renewal of its U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence membership for 2024. The Alliance, a previously reported $80 million initiative, faces increasing scrutiny for its influence on local electoral processes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2222968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/35590104084_023a707a25_k.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2222967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/35590104084_023a707a25_k.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222967","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=2222967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2222968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2222967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2222967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2222967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}