S747 in SECTION 2. G.S. 163-22 is amended by adding two new subsections to read: " (t) The State Board shall not accept private monetary donations or in-kind contributions, directly or indirectly, for conducting elections or employing individuals on a temporary basis."
SECTION 4. G.S. 163-33 is amended by adding two new subdivisions to read: " County boards of elections shall not accept private monetary donations or in-kind contributions, directly or indirectly, for conducting elections or employing individuals on a temporary basis. This subdivision does not prohibit the following in-kind donations: a. Use of a voting site, if that voting site is used for the purpose of conducting elections. b. Food or beverages for precinct officials or other workers at the voting place or county board of elections office. c. Ink pens and personal protection equipment to be used in an election."
Center for Tech and Civic Life
Federal Funding Scheme
FEMA “Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities” (BRIC) Grants
2020 - The Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), a Left-Wing, Non-Profit received a $350 Million “Donation” from Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, and distributed it to 2,500 Election Offices. Ninety percent of the funds went to jurisdictions that Biden won.
2021 - Citizen outcry against outside funding and influence in elections led to thirty state legislatures passing statutes to ban these activities, known as “Zuck Bucs” bans. Six Democrat governors vetoed these bills. With two veto overrides and a constitutional amendment, there are now twenty-seven states with “Zuck Bucs” bans.
2022 - To influence elections, and circumvent the “Zuck Buc” bans, CTCL formed the US Alliance for Election Excellence, with an $85 Million grant from The Audacious Project. The scheme involved naming “Centers of Election Excellence”, and offering grants and/or “Alliance” membership.
2023 - CTCL named 16 of these “Centers” in 11 states, awarding $13 Million and $5 Million in 11 grants, to locations won by Biden and Trump, respectively. The CTCL legal team was able to come up with a plan to circumvent the “Zuck Bucs” bans in Dekalb County, GA and Coconino County, AZ.
Once again, there was citizen outcry about this new scheme. Out of the original 16 “Centers”, 3 refused the grants, 3 turned down the membership, and 2 have cancelled their membership.
The goal of the Left is massive federal funding of elections. In 2021 CTCL, with the Center for Safe and Modern Elections, formed the Election Infrastructure Initiative, working with Democrats in Congress to get $10 Billion for Election Offices. Thankfully, this plan has not been successful.
2024 - CTCL has announced their latest scheme to secure federal funding by assisting Election Officials to apply for FEMA “Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities” (BRIC) Grants. They will be hosting a series of Webinars with a Federal Funds expert to conduct this training.
Today, CTCL held their first Webinar. Dan Meuse, from Princeton and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, explained that the goal of this $700 Million program is to reduce spending on disasters by investing in hazard mitigation. He never made the direct connection with these goals to election offices.
He suggested possible projects, like the risk to election equipment and ballot storage in a flood zone, risk of losing power in an area that is susceptible to severe storms, risk of disruption in transportation and damage caused by wildfires. The grants cover building disaster mitigation capacity, projects to increase resilience and project management costs.
FEMA will accept 1 application, of consolidated local applications, per state, each sub-app is 75 pages. There is a 25% Match, 10% for a “Disadvantaged Community”, and a cost analysis. The deadline is February 29, with decisions in August.
The CTCL host said, watch for notices for future federal grant webinars. Our “Action Items” are to attend the webinars and report on the content to grassroots organizations, conservative media and appropriate Congressional Committees. We must expose and stop this scheme.
Ned Jones
Citizens Research Project Election Integrity Network ned@electionintegrity.network
January 25, 2024
"In addition, a county board may accept a monetary donation or in-kind contribution if the funds will not be used for conducting elections or employing individuals on a temporary basis. Examples of such donations or contributions:
* Costs for attending professional development conferences that may include events discussing topics pertaining to elections.
* An elections professional organization or service provider providing best-practice guides or presentations to county staff on various elections procedures.
* Assistance designing communication tools that are not directly facilitating a process integral to carrying out an election. For example, a non-profit organization could provide a tutorial to a county board of elections on how to make its website more accessible to disabled individuals."
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I fail to see how these permissible uses match up with the intent of the NCGA's prohibition on monetary and non-monetary contributions from private organizations as stipulated in S.L. 2023-140, Section 4 (NCGS 163-33)...
"(18) County boards of elections shall not accept private monetary donations or in-kind contributions, directly or indirectly, for conducting elections or employing individuals on a temporary basis.
This subdivision does not prohibit the following in-kind donations: a. Use of a voting site, if that voting site is used for the purpose of conducting elections. b. Food or beverages for precinct officials or other workers at the voting place or county board of elections office. c. Ink pens and personal protection equipment to be used in an election."
Just another case of quibbling by the NCSBE. Looks as if our "anti-Zuckbucks provision needs additional clarification. (This is why we need your task forces up and running in every county!)
Jim