Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson invited David Becker of” Zuckbucks” election meddling party CEIR to proclaim Michigan’s primaries as “more safe” than “ever” in a Monday press conference, despite Becker’s background of running groups that undermine vote protection.
Benson stated at the convention,” David is going to share how first election here in Michigan and throughout the country helps to maintain the security and safety of our elections,” before thanking Becker for his efforts to” strengthen our democracy.”
The organization that used close to$ 70 million in” Zuckbucks” from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to influence election administration and promote Democratic-backed voting practices before the 2020 election is named after Becker as founder and executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research ( CEIR ).
During the meeting with Benson, Becker pitched laws like first and mail-in election, claiming they offer” great security gains”, and are the cause why” Michigan in 2024 is more secure than Michigan has ever been”.
” It’s why voting total in the United States in 2024 is more stable, open, and checked than it’s ever been before”, Becker claimed.
Less Safe, Transparent, and Verified
No-excuse absentee ballot was approved by Michigan voters in 2018, and according to the Detroit Free Press, Benson will send absentee ballot apps to every registered voter nationwide in 2020. Mass email election is criticized as uncomfortable because it bypasses vote security measures, such as having a voter present a corresponding photo ID at the polling place, and because inflated or dated voter lists can cause mailing addresses to be entered incorrectly. When the Public Interest Legal Foundation notified Benson in 2020 that there were 25, 975 dying registrants on Michigan’s voting floats, she failed to take action.
In addition to allowing voters to cast an absentee ballot in man, Michigan voters in 2022 approved nine weeks of first election before state and federal elections.  ,
In the media event, Becker advocated the use of digital surveys books or “e-poll ebooks”, calling them “better than any system that we have”. On Saturday, the first day of Michigan’s first election before the Aug. 6 key, a state site malfunctioned, making it difficult for some state staff” to link to the early election e-poll book”. According to Benson, another applications” caused a rise in activity” on the server that “across the state” led to issues.
She said the issue was “quickly addressed” and that “backup techniques” enabled ballot to proceed.
The Canton Township assistant reportedly had to move to report calculation on Saturday between 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. when the technology resumed operation, The Detroit News reported. ” The problem was resolved statewide by 1 p. m .”, the local news outlet reported.
Benson insisted in the press conference that, “overall”, state election clerks reported “early voting]went ] smoothly through the weekend” and that there were” no major problems” . ,
According to Benson, “more than 10, 600 voters had cast a ballot at an early voting site in Michigan” by the time the early voting locations closed on Sunday, around 6, 400 of which voted on the day of the malfunction. According to Benson’s office, nearly 700, 000 residents have already cast an absentee ballot in the primary.
Partisan Motives
Both Becker and Benson have long been involved in leftist initiatives and organizations.
Brad Schlozman, who was Becker’s boss at the Justice Department in the early aughts, has described Becker as a”hard-core leftist” who” could n’t stand conservatives”. Becker was sued by the DOJ for offering to assist Boston in a DOJ voting rights lawsuit, which Schlozman described as the “most unethical thing” he had ever witnessed while working there. The ethics investigation uncovered emails with “nasty, disparaging remarks about Republicans”, according to Hans von Spakovsky, who was also at the DOJ at the time.
A multi-state online voter roll “maintenance” platform where states submit election data is supposed to aid in the elimination of dead and duplicate voters was established in 2012 by Becker. However, ERIC shares that information with CEIR so that the organizations can identify unregistered individuals to target with registration efforts.
According to a report released by the Public Interest Legal Foundation earlier this year, Virginia, one of the many states that have withdrawn from ERIC, discovered roughly 100, 000 dead people and 68, 000 nonresidents who ERIC had nevertheless added to a list of supposedly “eligible but unregistered” voters.
In addition to Becker’s organization, CEIR reported that the organization obtained Virginia voter data for its own research and an “outreach study” the same year. In addition, CEIR reported that CEIR funneled millions of dollars in” Zuckbucks” to election agencies in 2020. That year, CEIR collaborated with ERIC to launch a sizable registration campaign in the state. After a number of Republican-led states withdrew from the group, Becker resigned from his nonvoting position on the board of ERIC.
Becker cited his “lifelong work in nonpartisan election policy” to defend his record to The Federalist. To back up his point, he cited a special award for merit from a former Bush DOJ employee and a electioninnovation.org/update/in-support-of-ceir-and-david-becker/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>letter from people he referred to as” conservatives,” some of whom had connections to leftist election organizations.
” I am very happy to stand on my record”, Becker said.
The Center for Tech and Civic Life ( CTCL), the other primary” Zuckbucks” recipient, funneled close to$ 350 million to election administrators in 2024 to influence elections, according to InfluenceWatch. Between CEIR and CTCL, the funding acted as a Democrat get-out-the-vote effort.
Becker told The Federalist CEIR has given a” complete accounting” for the” Zuckbucks” program, and cited its grants to red states that Trump won in 2020. According to him, CEIR “offered grants to every state for the purpose of nonpartisan voter education related to the pandemic.”
The Michigan Center for Election Law and Administration (MCELA ) received nearly$ 12 million in 2020 from The Michigan Star, according to The Michigan Star. MCELA then sent$ 11 million in” consulting fees” to Democratic firms for supposedly “nonpartisan voter education”, according to InfluenceWatch.
When The Federalist asked Becker about this, he referred to CEIR’s report about its 2020 program.
Jocelyn Benson was the person who founded MCELA. She founded the group in 2008 and served as its president until February 2020, according to InfluenceWatch.  ,
Becker claimed to have worked with other secretaries of state before her but that he” ca n’t pinpoint” when he first started working with Benson.
” I and CEIR work with election officials all across the country, of both parties”, Becker said to The Federalist, claiming the group’s “work is strictly nonpartisan” and that he has “also worked extensively with Republican election officials”. But a number of states, including Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Virginia, Texas, West Virginia, Florida, Missouri, Alabama,  , and , Louisiana, have cut ties with ERIC as concerns about its partisan bias grow.
Becker declined to give further details on “what capacity” he and Benson have been working together.
Benson also serves on the National Vote At Home Institute ( NVAHI), which has a leadership position with CTCL, as its circle of advisers. When Amber McReynolds, then-CEO of NVAHI, suggested Benson interpret existing law to enable a permanent absentee voting option in 2019, Benson forwarded the guidance to her staff to “explore” the recommendation.
The Federalist reached out to Benson’s office for comment, but did not receive an answer in time for publication.
The staff writer for election integrity is Logan Washburn. 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 was born and raised in rural Michigan, but he is primarily from Central Oregon.
