The Center for Tech and Civic Life ( CTCL), which increased Democratic turnout in 2020 by shuttling” Zuckbucks” to public election offices, will be issuing another round of grants to rural areas ahead of November’s election.
” This software will help eligible rural and nonmetro election offices modernize outdated voting systems, improve access to voting for rural electors, seniors, and veterans, and make much-needed system updates to improve election security and make election smoother”, said CTCL Director Tiana Epps-Johnson in a media release obtained by The Federalist.
Beginning today, rural officials can apply for grants, according to the release. Before the election, CTCL is unsure how much money it will be distributing to local election offices.  ,
However, based on the number of voters, the organization did make an announcement about how much money it would give to each area. According to the press release, jurisdictions with fewer than 5, 000 citizens of voting age are eligible for$ 5, 000, those with 5, 001 to 25, 000 are eligible for$ 20, 000, those with 25, 001 to 100, 000 are eligible for$ 50, 000, those with 100, 001 to 250, 000 are eligible for$ 100, 000.
According to CTCL’s website, the “nonpartisan” grants will be available in U. S. territories and 19 states. The grants target 2024 battleground states Michigan, Nevada, and New Hampshire. Other eligible states are Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming.
The new grants can be used for “key human, physical, and technological assets” the Department of Homeland Security considers “necessary to conduct elections”, according to CTCL’s website.
The group linked to a document from the DHS ‘ CISA program, the federal government’s hub for Big Tech censorship-efforts-ahead-of-2024-election/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>collusion and online censorship. The list of “designated election assets” includes everything from “physical sites and hardware to digital operations”
Officials are asked about the grant application’s answers, including the number of active registered voters, the number of full-time employees, and the annual election budget.
To determine “rural” and “nonmetro” jurisdictions eligible for the grants, the group is using guidelines from the United States Department of Agriculture. According to CTCL, the federal government has reduced federal election funding to$ 55 million as a result of its grant program.
In 2022, CTCL joined electoral influence organizations to continue working with local election offices. The United States Alliance for Election Excellence was established. The alliance worked with Coconino County under Arizona law that year.
A Questionable Past
CTCL claims to provide “nonpartisan” funding, but its history suggests otherwise.
The group was founded in 2012 by former staffers of the New Organizing Institute ( NOI )— namely Epps-Johnson, Whitney May, and Donny Bridges, according to InfluenceWatch.  ,
NOI became known as the” Democratic Party’s Hogwarts for digital wizardry”, and trained more than 30, 000 Democratic digital organizers and campaigners. The group focused on election administration, voter data management, and get-out-the-vote efforts –- all areas on which CTCL now focuses.
Leftist Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss took inspiration from the NOI in 2015 to strategize efforts to “reshape the U. S. electorate” and give so-called “progressive” causes a permanent advantage.
In 2020, CTCL transferred$ 328 million from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to public election organizations. The grants, which later became known as” Zuckbucks,” primarily targeted areas with left-leaning voting blocs and boosted Democratic voter turnout in the already close presidential election.
According to the Capital Research Center ( CRC ), 28 states have banned” Zuckbuck”-style election funding due to integrity concerns. The 2024 grants are not available for those states.
CTCL launched an effort in 2021 to circumvent those laws with its Election Infrastructure Initiative, billed as “bringing together election officials, nonprofits, counties, cities, and states” to call on$ 20 billion in congressional election funding over the next decade.  ,
While CTCL has stated its commitment to increasing public funding,” they should be asked if they will urge that this new public funding of elections be fair, rather than grossly partisan,” according to Scott Walter, president of Capital Research Center, in a statement released to The Federalist.
As noted by Walter, the CTCL’s efforts are cosponsored by the Center for Secure and Modern Elections, which has ties to the Arabella network and its “multi-billion dollar empire of Democratic-aligned’ dark money,’ trying to manipulate our elections”.
More recently, CTCL provided guidance on swaying election laws and censoring speech. Kurt Sampsel, then-senior project manager for CTCL, said in an online course that former President Donald Trump’s concerns about the 2020 election “had the effect of undermining confidence in our democratic processes” . ,
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.
