Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., introduced the End Zuckerbucks Act on Thursday, a bill to prevent nonprofit organizations from funding public elections, according to a press release.
“The administration of our elections is not something that should be sold to the highest bidder or wealthiest Silicon Valley donor,” Tenney said. “This kind of influence operation by a third-party in America’s elections undermines public confidence in the democratic process.”
The End Zuckerbucks Act would strip tax-exempt status from nonprofit organizations that give grants to state or local election officials, as already is the case for those that directly engage in political activity.
Tenney said nonprofit grants for public elections put “private donors in charge of dictating to government agencies what should and should not be done.
“It should not have happened in 2020, and the End Zuckerbucks Act will make sure it never does again,” she concluded.
Tenney named the legislation after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who funneled more than $350 million into the 2020 elections to boost Democratic turnout.
Zuckerberg passed the money through the Center for Tech and Civic Life, a non-profit organization run by former president Barack Obama’s aides, the Daily Caller reported.
CTCL sent grants to almost 2,500 election officials in 48 states and Washington, D.C.
The Zuckerberg-funded group justified the massive and unprecedented interference in America’s elections by arguing that the money let localities buy personal protective equipment to safely conduct elections.
In a letter to CTCL, Tenney and 13 House Republicans wrote that election officials used less than 1% of the grants for PPE, according to the Daily Caller.
The Republicans demanded that CTCL release its financial disclosures.
Instead, election officials used the money for get-out-the-vote campaigns—which targeted low-information voters who leaned Democratic—mailers, and online voter-registration drives as well as to open new polling places and install more unsafe ballot drop boxes.
Zuckerberg’s cash flowed disproportionately into deep-blue areas, with 92% of the funds going to precincts that lean Democratic.
Numerous studies have shown that Zuckerberg influenced the elections in Arizona, Georgia, Texas, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and throughout the country.
“This influence has no place in our elections and the American people deserve transparency about the integrity of the elections officials we count on,” said Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. “Voters deserve transparency about the sources of donations and where the funds were distributed—and this bill seeks to provide them with that transparency.”
Republicans discussed the legislation at a press conference on Thursday.
