Non-profits providing vote by mail support to city and county election offices

Several non-profits emerged in 2020 to provide support for vote-by-mail programs to city and county election officials.

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan announced on September 1 that they were providing $300 million in funding to support non-profits to provide assistance to city and county election offices, with $250 million going to the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) and $50 million going to the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR). In mid-October, Zuckerberg and Chan announced that they were providing an additional $100 million to CTCL.

Prior to the September 1 announcement, CTCL had announced various grants it was making to city and county election offices, but without specifying the source of the funding for this activity. The New Yorker reported, "Facebook, Google, and major foundations are listed as donors on [CTCL's] Web site, but the center declined to say who specifically funded the recent large grants to cities in battleground states this year."

The CTCL announced in July 2020 that it would provide $6.3 million in grants to five cities in Wisconsin to support their administration of the November 2020 elections. In August, CTCL announced that it was preparing an additional round of election administration assistance grants for rural counties. In August, CTCL signed a grant agreement with the City of Philadelphia to provide it with $10 million in election assistance. CTCL is additionally providing $2.2 million in election assistance to Delaware County.

Delaware County Councilwoman Christine Reuther expressed appreciation for the funding it is receiving, saying, “Because I’m not using taxpayer dollars for a lot of these initiatives, I can be more aggressive than maybe some of the other counties can".

Several counties in Georgia, including DeKalb, are working with the National Vote at Home Institute and CTCL to support their election administration.

Locations of CTCL election grants

Connecticut

$350,000 to City of Hartford:

"Last week, the Hartford clerk’s office learned it will be getting extra help to pay for the election, a $350,000 grant from a nonpartisan organization called the Center for Tech and Civic Life. The award is a small piece of the $250 million gift Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan announced Sept. 1 to support safe and secure elections across the country."

Georgia

$5.6 million to Cobb County.

$300,000 to Dougherty County:

"'The Dougherty County Board of Commissioners received the request for the funding of additional absentee ballot drop boxes and accompanying requirements from the Board of Elections and our board voted and approved to fulfill this request to further accommodate the needs of our voters in Albany and Dougherty County amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in our community,' Dougherty County Commission Chairman Chris Cohilas said. 'This was an unbudgeted and unexpected budget allocation, and we are pleased that through this grant the county will be reimbursed for these expenses, which is a win-win for both the citizens and county government.'"

$6 million to Fulton County, Georgia:

The Fulton County, Georgia board of county commissioners voted on September 2 to accept $6 million from CTCL. The county commissioners also added additional taxpayer funding for elections and money the county had received from the federal government for COVID relief to bring the total of additional election support to $14.5 million. This means that the total expenditure of the county's election office in 2020 will be $34 million, which county commissioner LIz Hausmann described as a "staggering amount".

$4.2 million to Gwinnett County.

$557,000 to Macon-Bibb County.

Illinois

$855,000 to Lake County.

Iowa

$267,500 to Blackhawk County

$286,870 to Scott County

$155,000 to Woodbury County:

"'I'm very excited that we were made aware of this grant through the secretary of state's office and it's one that's going to help us get through the general election in pretty good financial condition,' County Auditor Pat Gill said."

Kansas

$856,000 to Johnson County.

$816,458 to Sedgewick County:

"The Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) has awarded Sedgwick County’s Election Office with a grant of more than $800,000. The purpose of the grant is to help counties with election operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sedgwick County is one of several entities across the country that received this grant funding."

Maine

$210,000 to the City of Augusta.

$272,000 to the City of Bangor.

$211,000 to the Town of Brunswick.

$274,000 to the City of Lewiston.

Maryland

$688,000 to Howard County.

Michigan

$417,000 grant to City of Ann Arbor:

CTCL is providing $417,000 to the City of Ann Arbor to:

• Pay for staffing for a satellite city clerk’s office at the University of Michigan Museum of Art
• Pay for staffing for extended city clerk’s office hours at city hall
• New absentee ballot drop boxes
• $100 in bonus pay for the city’s election workers

$467,625 grant to City of Flint:

CTCL is providing $467,625 to the City of Flint to:

• Expand voter education and outreach
• Purchase eight ballot drop-boxes
• Allow for additional staffing to process absentee ballots

$443,000 grant to City of Lansing:

In early September, it was announced that the City of Lansing, Michigan, had agreed to accept a $443,000 grant from CTCL. According to the announcement, the funds will be used as follows:

"Some of the funding will go to mailing out absentee ballot application to every remaining Lansing City voters who have not requested a ballot be mailed to them in order to reduce the crowd sizes on election day while still allowing voters to participate. It will also allow for the purchase and installation of 12 new secure drop-boxes located at all fire stations, community centers, the CATA CTC station and the City Cemetary office."

$433,580 grant to City of Muskegon:

The City of Muskegon has accepted $433,580 from CTCL for these items:

• A media campaign to encourage voters to mail in their ballots
• A $100,000 high-speed vote tabulator
• New election booths at every precinct
• A one-time pay increase for poll workers
• Additional ballot drop boxes
• A drive-thru voting program

$405,564 to City of Pontiac.

$402,000 grant to City of Saginaw:

This grant from CTCL to the City of Saginaw will pay for:

• A public relations outreach campaign
• Support for absentee voting
• Recruitment and training of poll workers
• Safety protocols
• Extended clerk hours
• Hazard pay for poll workers
• Ballot drop boxes
• Equipment and staffing to process absentee ballot applications and absentee ballots

$3.5 million to Wayne County.

Mississippi

$1.5 million to Hinds County:

“'What this means for Hinds County and voters, it will allow us to purchase additional PPE equipment. We have been able to purchase extra voting machines along with electronic poll books to help with the lines and to help cut down on contamination,' said Hinds County Election Commissioner Toni Johnson."

• Controversy broke out on the Hinds County Election Commission due to the grant: "Hinds County Election Commission Chair, Toni Johnson, is going as far as accusing Supervisor David Archie of racketeering and doctoring documents to misspend $200,000 in election funds for personal gain. Archie responds it’s Commissioner Johnson demanding blank checks for her ideas."

Missouri

$2 million to St. Louis County.

Montana

$294,000 to Cascade County.

$263,000 to Glacier County.

$215,000 to Lewis and Clark County:

"Lewis and Clark County leaders have accepted a major grant, intended to help get ready for COVID-19’s impact on the November election. On Thursday morning, county commissioners voted to accept $215,000 from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, a national nonprofit. That funding will go toward ensuring the upcoming election is run safely and informing voters about changes in election procedures."

New Jersey

$300,000 to Atlantic County.

New Mexico

$206,000 to Dona Ana County.

New York

$280,000 to Onondaga County.

Ohio

$435,000 to Lorain County:

"The Lorain County Board of Elections spent more than $400,000 out of a grant provided by a world-famous social media billionaire and his wife to ensure a free and fair election this November. Board of Elections Director Paul Adams said he was surprised to get notification that the Center for Tech and Civic Life had millions of dollars to provide local elections officials with more funding to ensure a smooth election schedule."

$544,624 to Lucas County.

Pennsylvania

$10 million grant to City of Philadelphia:

In August, CTCL awarded a $10 million grant to the City of Philadelphia. The grant is intended to fund these activities:

• Mail-in and absentee voting, and processing equipment ($5.5 million)
• Satellite election offices for in-person mail-in voting ($2.27 million)
• In-person voting at polling places on election day ($1.32 million)
• Secure dropboxes and related needs ($552,000)
• Printing and postage and related needs ($370,000)

The typical annual budget for the city's election office is $12.3 million, leading a local newspaper to describe the additional $10 million in funding as a "massive jolt".

$2.05 million to Allegheny County

$863,000 to Centre County:

Election officials in Centre County, Pennsylvania agreed to accept $863,828 from CTCL.

$2.2 million grant to Delaware County:

Election officials in Delaware County announced in late August that they were accepting a $2.2 million grant from CTCL: "Delaware County Council accepted a $2.2 million dollar grant, awarded by the nonpartisan Center for Tech and Civic Life through its COVID-19 Response Grants Program, for training of poll workers; setting up drop-box locations for voters to return ballots; supporting opportunities to vote early through over-the-counter mail-in voting; and voter education and outreach."

$148,000 to Erie County.

$474,202 to Lancaster County:

"Lancaster County will accept nearly half a million dollars from a Chicago-based group to defray costs of managing this year's general election. The county commissioners expressed some hesitation about accepting money from a third-party group, but voted in favor of accepting the $474,201.96 grant, noting that the money will be used to pay for services and other items that the county had already decided to purchase. 'I’m not a big fan of third party money being used to administer elections, but because of how narrow this application is crafted, we’re basically paying for things we were already going to do,' Commissioner Craig Lehman said at Tuesday’s commissioner’s work meeting."

South Carolina

$695,000 to City of Charleston:

Charleston, South Carolina's city council agreed on September 8 to accept a $695,000 grant from CTCL to "purchase mail-in ballot equipment, open additional absentee voting sites and pay poll workers more." Of the total, $100,000 will be spent on advertisements in local newspapers and billboards to promote mail-in voting.

$102,373 to Clarendon County.

$660,000 to City of Greenville.

$730,000 to City of Richland.

Texas

$1.9 million to Bexar County.

$1.8 million to Cameron County:

"The department announced on Monday it has received notice of a grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life for $1.8 million...the money will be used to cover absentee ballot assembly and processing equipment, support early voting sites, expand curbside voting, support in-person voting on election day, and purchase additional personal protective equipment for both voters and poll workers."

$15.1 million to Dallas County:

"The Dallas County Elections Department will receive a $15.1 million grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), a nonprofit organization funded by Mark Zuckerberg, as the elections department’s administrator finishes out a tenure rife with controversy."

$86,424 to Ellis County:

"A grant fund in the amount of $86,424 was approved from the Center for Tech and Civic Life. This grant will support the work of Ellis County elections administrator Jana Onyon in planning and operating a safe 2020 election in Ellis County. Onyon said the funds will be used to purchase personal protective equipment and cleaning products for polling locations, and additional advertising about health protocols for this election. Onyon also said these funds will also be used in any runoff elections in December, if needed."

• In mid-October, the Dallas County Commissioners forbade the elections office to give $800,000 of the grant money to a group called "Community Foundations". That group would have used the money to send election-related messages to select zip codes. The county commissioners said that reaching out to select zip codes is illegal under state law.

$289,075 to Hays County.

$263,644 to Williamson County:

"The Williamson County Commissioners on Tuesday accepted a grant of $263,644 from the Center for Tech and Civic Life that will allow the county to raise wages for poll workers by $3 an hour, Davis said. Poll workers will now receive $13 an hour and judges will receive $15 per hour."

Wisconsin

Five Wisconsin cities:

CTCL committed $6.3 million to election administration assistance in Wisconsin through supporting programs in five cities. The five cities, and the amount each is set to receive, are:

• City of Milwaukee: $2,154,500
• City of Madison: $1,271,788
• City of Green Bay: $1,093,400
• City of Kenosha: $862,779
• City of Racine: $942,100

Assistance to the cities is based on a document called the "Wisconsin Safe Voting Plan 2020". The 21-page document is co-signed by the mayors of Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha and Racine. The "Wisconsin Safe Voting Plan 2020" makes four recommendations. They are:

1. "Encourage and Increase Absentee Voting"
2. "Dramatically Expand Strategic Voter Education & Outreach Efforts, Particularly to Historically Disenfranchised Residents"
3. "Launch Poll Worker Recruitment, Training and Safety Efforts"
4. "Ensure Safe and Efficient Election Day Administration"

In order to support #1 ("Encourage and Increase Absentee Voting"), the Safe Voting plan recommends:

1. "Provide assistance to help voters comply with absentee ballot requests and certification requirements"
2. "Utilize secure drop-boxes to facilitate return of absentee ballots"
3. "Deploy additional staff and/or technology improvements to expedite and improve accuracy of absentee ballot processing"
4. "Expand in-person early voting (including curbside voting)"

$183,200 to the City of Janesville.

Rural counties program

In August, CTCL announced that in addition to the five-cities program in Wisconsin, it was also launching a program to support election administration in some rural counties.

According to the organization, these grants will go to rural areas in these two categories: "One priority will be jurisdictions that are required to provide language assistance under section 203 of the Voting Rights Act and have a higher percentage of historically disenfranchised residents. The other priority will be jurisdictions in states that have recently changed absentee voting laws or rules in response to COVID-19."

Reception

Potential changes in laws

In Louisiana, Blake Miguez, a Republican member of the Louisiana House of Representatives, has filed a bill that, if approved, would outlaw the ability of Louisiana officials to use private grants to fund elections.

Miguez is working with Jeff Landry, the Attorney General of Louisiana, on this effort. Landry, believing that private funding for public elections is illegal, advised election officials throughout the state to avoid taking private grant money. Landry said, "Whether the defendants here may be well-intentioned, private money in any amount, but particularly the amount of money offered by the defendants to select clerks and/or registrars, has an inherently insidious and corrupting effect."

Lawsuits

A variety of lawsuits were filed against the program, primarily in federal courts.

• In Iowa, a lawsuit was filed in federal court by the Iowa Voter Alliance, represented by attorney Vincent Fahnlander, counsel for the Thomas More Society’s Amistad Project, seeking to prohibit Black Hawk and Scott counties from using CTCL grant money. The plaintiffs allege that the counties acted without legal authority in obtaining the grants.

• Federal judge Leonard T. Strand ruled against the plaintiffs on October 21.
• Erick Kaardal, an attorney for the Amistad Project of the Thomas More Society, which assisted the plaintiffs to file their lawsuit, said that the organization might contest the results of the November 3 election based on his organization's theory that it is illegal for municipalities to receive private assistance to administer elections.

• In Michigan, a group called the Election Integrity Fund filed a federal lawsuit seeking an injunction against CTCL's grants to Michigan counties.

• Federal judge Paul Maloney ruled against the plaintiffs.

• In Minnesota, a group called the Minnesota Voters Alliance filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to prevent the City of Minneapolis from accepting a CTCL grant.

• Federal judge Michael J. Davis denied the plaintiffs, writing, ""The City’s actions in applying for and accepting the grant and using the grant money to improve all manners of voting in Minneapolis in the 2020 election affect all Minneapolis voters equally. All individual Plaintiffs are Minneapolis voters. Plaintiffs fail to explain how they will be uniquely affected by Minneapolis’s actions."

• In Pennsylvania, eight members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, five individuals and the Pennsylvania Voters Alliance went to he legislators and five individuals filed suit with the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania seeking an injunction to prevent Centre County, Delaware County and the City of Philadelphia from accepting the funding from CTCL. The plaintiffs argue that federal law preempts private federal election grants to counties and cities.

• An amended complaint was filed by the plaintiffs on October 13 adding Kathy Boockvar as a defendant.
• On October 21, federal judge Matthew W. Brann declined the motion of the plaintiffs for a temporary restraining order and an injunction. In his decision, Brann wrote, "“The implication that increased voter turnout is inherently beneficial to progressive candidates is dubious at best."

• The plaintiffs appealed Judge Brann's decision to the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals on October 24.

• In South Carolina, a lawsuit was filed in federal court on October 23.

• In Texas, the Texas Voters Alliance filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent cities and counties in Texas from accepting the grants.

• Federal judge Amos L. Mazzant III ruled against the plaintiffs on October 20. He wrote, "“Ultimately, plaintiffs complain that people with different political views will lawfully exercise their fundamental right to vote. That is not a harm. That is democracy.”

• In Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Voters Alliance filed a lawsuit in federal court "seeking to block more than $6.3 million in private federal election grants designated for five Wisconsin cities, including Madison, claiming the money constitutes bribery to boost voting in progressive communities."

• Federal judge William Griesbach denied the plaintiff's request for a temporary restraining order on October 14, writing that they had failed to show a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits of the case. He wrote in his decision that “the risk of skewing an election by providing additional private funding for conducting the election in certain areas of the State may be real" but that the plaintiffs have not established that this is the case.

Private funding of elections

Some of the discussion around the Zuckerberg grants to local election officials centers around whether it is a good idea for private interests to get involved in funding public elections.

• Tom Speaker, a policy analyst for "Reinvent Albany", which is a generally progressive organization, said, "Our view is that elections should be funded by the state instead of private interests" He said that private election funding raises the potential for a conflict of interest and "undermines public trust in the system."

• David Becker is the executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research. This group received $50 million in Zuckerberg money. He said, "Plan A should always be that government pays to provide the infrastructure for our democracy...But we are in unusual times right now. State budgets are particularly strained. Congress has refused to act. And it's not like we can delay the election."

• Tom Brejcha, president of the Thomas More Society, a conservative pro bono law firm said, "This partisan privatization of our elections can't stand."

See also

• Absentee/mail-in voting
• Voting
• Voter registration