‘Zuckbucks’ Org Promotes $6M Dark Money Election Grant

The Center for Tech and Civic Life, which funneled millions in “Zuckbucks” to election officials in 2020, is promoting a $6 million election grant program from a left-wing dark money group with which it shares close ties.

“We wanted you to be aware that the Institute for Responsive Government (IRG) launched A More Responsive Government 2024 Grant Program, a new, nonpartisan $6 million grant program that aims to support local election offices,” said an Aug. 21 CTCL email obtained by The Federalist.

The email, apparently directed to election officials, noted the funding is “not a CTCL grant program.” CTCL funneled $328 million from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to public election agencies in 2020, using “Zuckbucks” to target areas with likely left-leaning voting blocs and boost Democratic turnout. 

“We are sharing this program information with you, as we commonly do with other nonpartisan resources and funding opportunities that can help you do your work,” the email said. 

The email bore CTCL’s logo, and that of a network the group launched in 2022 – the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence. The alliance brings together key election influencers from 2020 to intervene in election administration. The Federalist reported earlier this year that the group “skirted” Arizona’s ban on private election funding.

CTCL referred recipients of its email to the grantor –the Institute for Responsive Government – for more information. 

The grants range from $6,000 to $1.35 million, depending on a jurisdiction’s number of voting-age citizens, according to IRG’s website. The money will potentially fund officials in states the IRG views as having “responsive and user-friendly” election laws – specifically Colorado, Delaware, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, and Washington, D.C. 

“Election officials are still tasked with running a high-cost, high-turnout federal election,” the group’s website reads. “Many local jurisdictions simply do not have enough money allocated to fund every need that comes with running elections.” 

The IRG claimed these grants are “nonpartisan,” and to be used for “secure, efficient, and accessible election administration” from June 1, 2024 to May 31, 2025. 

The application deadline is Sept. 13. The IRG application asks officials to provide data like the number of active registered voters, how many election staff, and a copy of the jurisdiction’s election budget.

For guidelines on how election offices can use these grants, the group referred to the same document as did CTCL for its latest round of grants – the 2020 “Election Infrastructure Subsector Specific Plan” by CISA, the federal government’s online censorship agency.

Ned Jones, director of the Citizens Election Research Center, said he thinks ​​the program is a partisan ploy.

“This new ‘grant’ program, ‘A More Responsive Government 2024 Grant Program,’ is just the latest scheme by the left-wing, nonprofit network to use progressive activist billionaires’ funding to influence election offices, implement the left-wing election administration agenda, and impact the outcome,” Jones said to The Federalist in an email. “These activities should be banned, like they have been in 28 states, in every state.”

Twenty-eight states have banned private funding of elections due to integrity concerns since 2020, when CTCL and the Center for Election Innovation and Research funneled close to $400 million total in “Zuckbucks” to local election agencies, influencing administration and boosting Democrat turnout. 

Partisan Ties

While the IRG labels itself nonpartisan, it is a project of the New Venture Fund, which is managed by the leftist dark money giant Arabella Advisors, according to InfluenceWatch. IRG advocates policies to “radically redesign” government services, according to its website. This includes elections, where it supports measures like automated and online voter registration.

The group’s director is Sam Oliker-Friedland, chief counsel for the Center for Secure and Modern Elections. Like IRG, CSME advocates automatic voter registration and is a project of the New Venture Fund, according to InfluenceWatch. CSME shares close ties with CTCL.

Oliker-Friedland was the spokesman for Cities Forward, another Arabella pop-up group, when it granted Milwaukee $800,000 in private election funding. This happened in March, just before Wisconsin banned private election funding in April.

Oliker-Friedland also worked as deputy director of data and technology for the New Organizing Institute (NOI), which The Washington Post called the “Democratic Party’s Hogwarts for Digital Wizardry.” According to InfluenceWatch, the group trained 30,000 activists in 10 years.

The IRG “team” includes two of CTCL’s co-founders, Director Tiana Epps-Johnson and Director of Government Services Whitney May. Prior to their work at CTCL, the two worked at the NOI — Epps-Johnson as director of election administration, and May as that department’s government liaison. 

IRG Fellow Whitney Quesenbery is director of the Center for Civic Design. The group, like IRG and CSME, advocates automatic voter registration, according to InfluenceWatch. It has partnered with leftist groups Brennan Center for Justice, CTCL, Democracy Fund, and the League of Women Voters.

IRG’s advisory board includes Noah Praetz and Jennifer Morrell, co-founders of The Elections Group. The Elections Group gives officials “guidance” on absentee ballot processing, drop boxes, and mail-in ballots, and it partners with the Center for Civic Design and CTCL. Morrell is also a “subject matter expert” for CISA.

The Federalist asked IRG about its ties to other election groups, and whether it will provide training or ballot curing guidance to officials that receive its grants. The group did not comment in time for publication. 

Logan Washburn is a staff writer covering election integrity. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo’s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is originally from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.