Zuckerbuck$ in Indiana
Democrat counties flooded with cash for the 2020 election.
From our friends at the Indiana First Audit Documents Team:
Donations from Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, to the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), flooded the two largest Democrat counties, Marion and Lake, in Indiana with over two million dollars for the 2020 general election.
It wasn’t just swing states that received the donations from CTCL prior to the hotly contested 2020 Trump v. Biden election. Six counties in Indiana received the grant donations tilted heavily in favor of counties which perennially vote Democrat. Democrat counties received over 20 times the amount that Republican counties received:
- Marion: $1,148,455
- Lake: $855,475
- LaPorte: $68,052
- Decatur: $11,790
- Posey: $9,833
- Washington: $10,580
Marion and Lake counties received the windfall of $2,003,930, while the Republican counties of LaPorte, Decatur, Posey, and Washington received a comparative pittance of $100,250. Lake county’s CTCL grant was 23% of the entire county’s budget for elections.
Indiana mirrors national trends with the analysis of 8 swing states by Rep. Tenney, revealing 90 percent of donations went to Democrat counties vs 10 percent to Republican counties. ($130,417,301 vs $13,778,219).
Indiana’s percentage was even more skewed: 95% of donations went to Democrat counties, while only 5% went to Republican ones.
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan gave a 350 million donation to CTCL for the 2020 general election to manage the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on elections. But many grants fell astray of this goal: In LaPorte county, Indiana, a mobile van to assist voter registration was approved for purchase in 2021, well after the election. Nationally, voter outreach was a common use of funds. Ballot drop boxes and vote-by mail equipment all were purchased with CTCL’s grants.
In response, Indiana passed a law in 2021 (IC 3-5-3-1(d)) that prevents private funds, like CTCL’s grants, from helping election officials, prepare, administer, or conduct elections. Only state or federal money is now allowed.
Indiana First Audit, a volunteer citizen-led election integrity group is continuing to monitor the use of these funds.
Zuckerbuck$ in Indiana – Indiana First Audits
