New Information Confirms Zuckerberg-Connected Group Funneled Majority of Election Payments to Democrat-Leaning Counties
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22), co-chair of the Election Integrity Caucus, revealed for the first time that a liberal non-profit group flooded left-leaning counties in the states of Texas, Ohio, Nevada, Minnesota, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, and Pennsylvania with opaque private funding to increase voter turnout. After analyzing the Center for Tech and Civic Life’s (CTCL) IRS Form 990, Tenney’s office confirmed that of the $144.2 million spent by CTCL on these key states in the 2020 election, 90 percent went to Democrat-leaning counties won by Joe Biden, while only 10 percent went to right-leaning counties that voted for Donald Trump.
Tenney’s discovery that only 10 percent of CTCL’s funding went to right-leaning counties confirms earlier allegations that CTCL used these private funds, which were provided by Big Tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, to selectively drive turnout in Democratic areas. These funds bypassed state and local governments and went directly to local election agencies.
“Our elections should never be for sale, but they were in 2020. The left-leaning non-profit Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) funneled Mark Zuckerberg’s personal wealth to election agencies of his choosing without a shred of transparency or accountability. Now after reviewing their IRS Form 990, which I requested months ago, we know the group gave overwhelmingly to Democrat-leaning counties to drive up voter turnout there. This provided Democrats with a clear advantage over Republicans, and now we have the evidence to show the extent of this partisan exercise,” said Congresswoman Tenney.
“CTCL’s one-sided distribution of private dollars directly to election agencies without any accountability completely bypassed state and local governments and undermined the fairness and integrity of our elections. It should not have happened, which is why I introduced the End Zuckerbucks Act. Private, partisan organizations should not provide funds directly to election agencies to impact our elections,” Tenney concluded.
Below is a table displaying a side-by-side comparison of CTCL’s spending in the hotly contested states of Texas, Ohio, Nevada, Minnesota, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, and Pennsylvania.
Tenney has introduced the End Zuckerbucks Act in Congress, which would prevent 501(c)(3) tax exempt organizations like CTCL from providing direct funding to official election agencies in the future.
Background:
During the 2020 Election, Mark Zuckerberg poured $350 million into CTCL, a left-leaning non-profit run by former Obama staffers. CTCL then funneled this money directly to local Boards of Elections, completely bypassing any accountability or oversight from state legislatures or local governments. CTCL said at the time this money was for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), but anecdotal information and investigative reports have showed that these funds were used for just about everything but PPE. As election officials have since admitted, this includes Get Out the Vote campaigns, mailers to registered voters, online voter registration drives, among other uses. These activities, which were heavily concentrated in Democrat-leaning areas, likely drove higher Democratic voter turnout.
CTCL used this money as leverage over cash-strapped election agencies, forcing them into advancing its own partisan agenda. For example, in order to be eligible for funds from CTCL, election agencies had to open new polling places, add more drop boxes, and other requirements that had little to do with COVID, but everything to do with raising voter turnout in predominately Democratic counties.
Tenney first exposed CTCL’s activities in June 2021, when she called on the organization to immediately release its IRS Form 990. She reiterated this call again in December, just days before CTCL finally released its documents.
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