Keystone Today

A lengthy investigation by the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) into the use of private money in election management underscores the need to ban the practice outright, according to Rep. Eric Nelson (R-Westmoreland), the prime sponsor of legislation would prohibit local election officials from taking the money.

“It’s shocking that those behind this argue it’s OK to target certain counties over others with the money because it’s not specifically banned,” Nelson told Keystone Today.

The FGA is a public policy think tank based in Naples, Florida.

In its research, the FGA found that grants from the nonprofit Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), donated under the guise of ensuring safe election practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, funded mailers and online voter registration drives statewide, including Chester County, a key battleground region in the 2020 presidential elections. Overall Pennsylvania spent less than 10% of its CTCL grant money on safety measures.

Joe Biden carried Chester County with nearly 58% of the vote.

“We also found wide disparities in per capita funding between red and blue areas,” wrote FGA President and CEO, Tarren Bragdon, and state government affairs director, Joe Horvath, in a commentary published recently in the Wall Street Journal. “In Pennsylvania, Biden-supporting counties received nearly $5 per registered voter, compared with a little more than $1 in places that voted for Donald Trump. Other states saw big gaps too. This wide disparity increases the likelihood that private funding benefited Democratic candidates.”

Some of CTCL’s money, nearly $400 million of it, was donated by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, in the weeks leading up the election. The group, alleging nonpartisanship, is staffed by former Democratic operatives.

Pennsylvania state officials were in on the action as well, Nelson said.

“The secretary of state, a staffer in Gov. [Tom] Wolf’s office and a D.C. lobbyist notified five counties that the grants were available and helped them apply without notifying any other counties,” Nelson said. “That’s why my bill outright bans the practice instead of allowing it if the money is distributed equally. I don’t trust the secretary of state with the money.”

The Republican-controlled House passed Nelson’s bill, House Bill 2044, in mid-December. Nelson said that the Senate, also under Republican control, is supportive of passing either his version or one of their own.

In June 2021, the General Assembly sent Wolf sweeping election legislation, House Bill 1300, that contained a provision banning the use of private money unless it were disbursed equitably among the counties. Wolf vetoed the legislation.

"I want election reform, too. But House Bill 1300 isn't it," Wolf tweeted June 22. "The lawmakers behind this bill are the same ones who asked Congress to throw out PA votes and whose lies directly contributed to the Jan. 6 insurrection. I will veto this bill if it reaches my desk in its current form."