AMAC Exclusive-By Sam Adolphsen
Following the 2020 election, dozens of states have moved to curb the influence of so-called “Zuckerbucks” in their elections after Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg poured more than $350 million into the American elections system in 2020 – almost all of it appearing to benefit Democrat candidates. But as AMAC Newsline reported late last month, where Republicans saw the potential for corruption, the White House saw inspiring possibilities to protect their power, giving rise to “Bidenbucks.” Now, the full scope of the Biden administration’s plan to turn the federal government into a massive get out the vote machine for Democratic candidates is coming into full focus.
Soon after taking office, President Biden issued Executive Order 14019, formally titled “Promoting Access to Voting.” While that sounds like a worthy cause, the details quickly reveal an insidious plan to unleash an army of federal bureaucrats to influence elections under the guise of “increasing voter participation.” Worse, this new federal undertaking will be coordinated in part by private organizations – the EO itself was crafted by the socialist advocacy group Demos.
Some of the first wave of federal government efforts to influence elections are already underway and are truly shocking. For example, the office in charge of food stamps at the Department of Agriculture recently sent out guidance to state welfare agencies on how “to promote access to voting through the child nutrition programs.”
The Federal Highway Administration sent out guidance to state Department of Transportation’s instructing them to study the impacts of traffic on elections, and tasked them specifically to “work toward solutions to ease potential traffic bottlenecks around polling places during elections.” This may sound reasonable, until it is understood that it is not all traffic they want to ease, just the traffic in “geographic areas of need, including densely populated, underserved and disadvantaged communities.”
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has also decided that federal employees can have paid time off on Election Day, to make sure that this group of overwhelmingly Democratic-leaning voters can make it to the polls, even if many blue-collar Americans who typically vote Republican cannot.
What Biden has made clear from these steps is that the federal government will pick and choose which voters will be the beneficiaries of these policies. Just like Zuckerbucks before it, it appears Bidenbucks guidance and funding will be targeted to blue constituencies in a thinly-veiled effort to turn out the vote for one major political party – while actively ignoring turnout efforts for the other.
Thankfully, some states are taking notice and trying to get out ahead of this problem.
Louisiana, which was the first state to pass a Zuckerbucks ban prior to the 2020 election, only to have it vetoed by Democrat Governor John Bel Edwards, is trying to push back on Biden’s new maneuvers to influence the impartial administration of elections by the states. The Republican-controlled legislature is currently considering HB 359, a bill that would require election officials to provide notice of, and allow the state legislative committees to review and veto, any new federal guidance or funding for elections prior to implementation if it isn’t explicitly required by law.
Other states may soon follow with measures to counter Bidenbucks after recently passing measures to ban Zuckerbucks. Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, for example, have moved to ban private funding for elections through their Republican legislatures in recent weeks. However, Wisconsin Democrat Governor Tony Evers vetoed the bill for a second time in a state where more than $10 million in Zuckerbucks had a major impact on the election, while Pennsylvania Democrat Governor Tom Wolf also vetoed a similar bill last year, despite Pennsylvania being ground-zero for unfair election influence from Zuckerbucks.
But even with some progress being made, those states and others may soon have to worry about rebranded and revamped versions of Zuckerbucks.
The Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), the organization through which most of the Zuckerbucks funds flowed in 2020, just announced at a TED conference that they are going to hand out a whole new round of “grants” to pump millions more into local elections this time around.
Through their newly created “U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence,” the CTCL is poised to repeat the same basic plan it executed two years ago by giving out millions for “aid to improve their technology and processes.” Of course, the group’s founder said they just want to make sure that “local election officials no longer have to go it alone” – but that claim rings rather hollow to millions of conservatives who watched the same organization systematically work to advantage Democratic candidates in 2020.
CTCL is also partnering with two California colleges and is soliciting local election offices to work with them to become a “U.S. Center for Election Excellence.” The deadline for an office to “partner” with them is May 6th. This aggressive timeline is presumably to make sure they can impact the 2022 elections, which are looking increasingly grim for Democrats.
Most concerningly for election integrity advocates, it is unclear if the Zuckerbucks bans already in place will prevent these new left-wing grants from influencing elections. State attorney generals will likely have to weigh in on the legality of these new grants, and at the very least states should be on guard to monitor where, and for what purpose, these new grants are deployed.
Whether or not Biden’s attempts to influence elections through the power of the federal government will hold up in court remains to be seen, as several conservative legal groups are already threatening lawsuits. But there is no question that the new private funding of elections by the left-wing CTCL, along with the massive federal encroachment over state and local election procedures, is meant to influence what happens in 2022 elections and beyond. States need to stand up against this threat now, before it’s too late.
Sam Adolphsen is the former chief operating officer at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. He currently serves as the policy director at the Foundation for Government Accountability and lives in Maine.
While all this is going on in plain sight, all across the country, the vast majority of Republican politicians continue to daydream of them just riding a so-called red wave to victory in November. Doing little to ensure we don’t end up with another 3 a.m. “surprise” of truckloads of ballots materializing at ballot counting facilities in key states needed to actually win back control of Congress. Supremely confident that they don’t have to do much of anything but sit back and be handed control of both chambers of Congress. What a strategy for victory. Ignore the activities being carried out by your opposition and just hope everything pans out as you dream it.
Less than 20% of the last “COVID bill” went to deal with COVID. Less than 20% of the “bipartisan infrastructure” bill went to improve infrastructure. MOST of the money went to pay off DIMM constituencies!
U mean weaponized for politics
It’s all a dog & pony show! I’m 70 & I guarantee you this is not the America I was raised in. It’s corrupt, immoral, lazy, just one big poop show. I vote “Republican”. I’m a Constitutional Conservative. I’m sick to death of the Republican party just sitting on their rears & lining their pockets and acting as if they are any better than some of the democrakkkts. It’s disgusting. I’m in Texas & you can bet Ted Cruz WILL GET MY VOTE but when Coryn runs again, HE WON’T! Rhinos have to go & something needs to be done about the slime “woke” squad that is leading the democrakkkts by the nose. Okay, I’m done with my rant.
This article explains why the NYS Board of Elections doesn’t select those poll workers for the actual Primary or Election day until after they have gotten all the “full time” poll workers assigned to the early election days ( which are shorter hours, some even part day), yet expect the lesser trained poll workers who only do this maybe 2x yearly to handle the crowds who show up with non-stop questions on the longer hour day of Election/ Primary days, plus deal with machine malfunctions and probably lack of adequate staffing.
I got one, do not agree that government workers need additional PAID time off beyond what most businesses offer all non-government workers ( time to vote if requested ), especially with early voting days available. I consider this a form of bribery which is completely illegal.
As far as attempting to registering voters as people apply for benefits to supposedly “increase” the voter rolls, that will backfire on them because all newly registered voter has to vote differently in every state ( as per election laws in place) especially if their names doesn’t not show up on the voter roll. They will vote but that vote is not going to count until the individual has been verified as registered. All individuals who are newly registered ( especially right before an election) have to vote via affidavit ballots. Something not discussed loudly but very much part of voting registration.
I encourage you all to sign the petition at Convention of States to call an article V convention to amend the constitution to introduce term limits, fiscal controls, and restrain federal govt overreach. Take this action to reclaim individual liberty and self governance. COSAction (conventionofstates.com)
As a former federal employee, we always had time off to vote. That is nothing new.
Bring on the lawsuits, now.
After the tainted and rigged 2020 banana republic election we all watched happen, and unfortunately let them steal our country from the American citizens, there’s nothing going to stop these Marxist democrat elites from using every underhanded and dirty political move that has undermined our voting system. They literally stole the presidential election right in plain sight and couldn’t care less about any of it. What’s even worse is the RHINOS were in on it and our Supreme Court had the chance to overturn all of it and did nothing, Justice Roberts is obviously compromised and they own him. Remember Obamacare? This administration is as corrupt as anything this country has ever had to deal with and they are definitely our biggest enemy and threat to our democracy. These are the biggest hypocrites and dishonest lying bunch of sneaks ever and if not soundly defeated this November we’re finished as far as our constitutional freedoms are concerned. These are at the very least socialists and at worst communists, This administration is a total disaster and in all my years I’ve never felt so uneasy about the near future of this country, we’re definitely in a very bad situation and place with these progressive democrats in power right now, I don’t care if your a democrat or Republican Right now, if you’re an American citizen you simply must push these destructive haters of America out of office.
And from the GOP: resounding… silence.
I just want to know what is the significance of the GOP party anymore? Because if the GOP is going to roll over and show their bellies — knowingly and willingly — to the democrats, then what do I need the GOP for? The GOP stabbed Trump in the back, campaigned on a secure border and repealling 0-care and the first two years of Trumps admin (when they held ALL the cards), they sat on their dang hands and did “none of the above”.
Then in the rigged election, they never even spoke up. They all played along with the dems. I suspect because they are just a guilty of rigging elections too, but now the dems are better at it.
Now I’m just a small fish in the sea of campaign donors, but I would usually send $1000 to a federal candidate or two each cycle. But no more. I’m flat-f’ing done with the GOP & RNC. As far as I am aware, every candidate on the GOP ticket for a federal office shares funding to/from the national RNC/GOP and I will not be sending good money after bad, not a penny.
If they re-discover their spines, I might reconsider. But it is going to take a monumental, heroic shift in the GOP re-learning how to fight back to turn me around. I’m voting local only and even then, only for candidates who are into federal nullification. I won’t cast another vote in a federal election – it only encourages the bastards.
I said it once this week already and i will say it again ,,,, there is just no way we can win back part of what weve lost,, unless we — GET OFF OUR ASS AND GET TO THE POLLS — COME NOVEMBER ,,, The demo.–gods are already out there working hard in Ga.
We need SMALLER government. Government grows just like a fungus; bigger and forever. SCARY!!!
Donations to candidates have been around for a long time & have gotten many from Trump campaign in the last few months requesting donations to fund his election. And Lobbyists are a big force in elections and updates on pending bills . But the big election dollars do not always win the elections. My advice, vote for the best candidate for the office whether it is local, state, or Federal elections.
We here in Kentucky are very fortunate to have Congressman Thomas Massie in the house. He takes no lobbying money and is beholden to nobody except his constituents and everyone on the Democratic side hate him as do some of those on the Republican side. He is a constitutional conservative who is shunned by both sides of the house. He is one of our greatest asset’s and they can’t control him so they shun him. In the Senate we have Rand Paul who is a doctor and takes no crab and willingly to fight for our constitutional rights. The other Senator is known by all as Mitch McConnell who I believe is comprised and therefore is controlled by others. I must admit that I have voted for this guy at least five times but now it is time to “Ditch Mitch” for the sake of saving our country. I think we should let Jim Jordan of Ohio and Thomas Massie fill the top two executive positions for the next eight years and watch the demosocialist melt down and organize the “shout at the sky” on a daily basis!!!! GOD BLESS OUT COUNTRY.
It is shameful that any influence in the elections will be allowed.
There is no doubt Democrats (binen) and his cohorts will not stop trying to control the 2022 midterm elections in their favor. They continue to show us just how nasty they are.