FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—“Zuckerbucks” and “Bidenbucks” shouldn’t happen again and noncitizen voting shouldn’t continue, contends the House Republican leading the charge on election reforms.
Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., the chairwoman of the House Election Integrity Caucus, is sponsoring three bills on the subject. One is aimed at preventing any noncitizen from voting, and two others seek to prevent either the government or wealthy individuals from tipping the scales when administering elections.
“Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our constitutional republic. Americans deserve to know their voices won’t be drowned out by radical actors or noncitizens voting illegally,” Tenney told The Daily Signal.
“As chairwoman of the Election Integrity Caucus, I’m honored to introduce these three critical bills to secure our elections, restore public trust, and protect the sacred right to vote,” she added.
Constitutional Amendment to Stop Noncitizen Voting
Tenney is sponsoring a resolution calling for an amendment to the Constitution to prohibit individuals who are not U.S. citizens from voting in federal, state, and local elections.
While federal law prohibits noncitizen voting, local jurisdictions in California, Maryland, Illinois, Vermont, and the District of Columbia allow noncitizens to vote in city and county elections, such as those for school board or mayor.
Tenney’s proposal goes well beyond the proposed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which passed the House earlier this year and required proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.
Preventing Federal Election Meddling
Tenney is also proposing the Promoting Free and Fair Elections Act, which if passed would prevent future presidents from using federal agencies to engage in partisan voter operations at taxpayer expense.
For example, two months into office, former President Joe Biden signed an executive order directing federal agencies to increase voter participation.
Based on records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, The Daily Signal reported that one way the Biden-Harris administration implemented the order was by partnering with left-leaning organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Demos, the League of Women Voters, the Brennan Center for Justice, and Fair Fight Action and providing them federal coordination and other resources for voter registration and other get-out-the-vote efforts.
Critics called the federal backing of liberal groups for turning out the vote “Bidenbucks.”
The Biden administration also pushed for ways to increase voting by felons.
While some information about these efforts was released, the Biden administration invoked presidential privilege to prevent the release of the Biden Justice Department’s strategic plan to implement the executive order.
Halting Private Funding
Tenney’s third proposal—which she has made in past sessions of Congress—would amend the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations from directly funding government election offices through donations or donated services.
In the 2020 election, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg contributed about $400 million to two nonprofits to dole out grant money for local election offices.
The bulk of Zuckerberg’s money went to the left-leaning Center for Tech and Civic Life. Both Zuckerberg and the center have insisted the money was spent in a nonpartisan way across the nation, and was geared toward helping election officials during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Zuckerberg spokesman had no comment on the legislation but defended the 2020 grants.
“During the 2020 election, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan made a one-time donation to help address the unprecedented challenge of ensuring Americans could safely vote during the height of the pandemic,” Brian Baker, a spokesman for Zuckerberg and Chan, told The Daily Signal.
“The donations were made in full compliance with the law to two nonpartisan organizations that helped cities and states ensure that residents could vote regardless of their party or candidate preference,” Baker continued. “Nearly 2,500 election jurisdictions from 49 states applied for and received funds, and the FEC’s [Federal Election Commission’s] unanimous, bipartisan 6-0 decision confirms that the donations were apolitical. Public filings show that President Trump won more than 60% of those jurisdictions that received funding.”
However, critics dubbed the grants “Zuckerbucks” and said the money disproportionately funded election offices in predominantly Democrat jurisdictions.
While Zuckerberg later swore off ever funding elections again, the center was a founding member of the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence, established in 2022, which was a coalition of organizations providing grant money to and holding workshops for local election offices. Critics said this was effectively a repeat of what Zuckerberg did.
After the 2020 elections, almost half the states in the nation banned private money funding election offices.
A special counsel appointed by the Wisconsin State Assembly. The special counsel issued a report finding that jurisdictions getting Zuckerberg dollars may have conducted illegal get-out-the-vote operations and violated other state laws.
The Daily Signal reached out to the Center for Tech and Civic Life as well as the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence for comment. Neither responded as of publication time.
