November 5, 2024
On April 2, Wisconsin voters will have the opportunity to kill the "Zuckerbucks," which played an important role in the 2020 general election. The ballot initiative known as Question 1 would create a constitutional amendment that would bar election officials from accepting private grants to fund their operations. Meanwhile, Question...

On April 2, Wisconsin voters will have the opportunity to kill the “Zuckerbucks,” which played an important role in the 2020 general election.

The ballot initiative known as Question 1 would create a constitutional amendment that would bar election officials from accepting private grants to fund their operations.

Meanwhile, Question 2 would also add a constitutional amendment requiring that “only election officials designated by law may perform tasks in the conduct of primaries, elections, and referendum.”

Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a bill in 2021 that would have prevented private funds from being used in elections.

In his veto message, Evers said he objected to “restrictions on local governments potentially using supplemental funding for election administration,” adding that officials “must always run elections according to state and federal law,” so the source of the funding should not matter.

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He vetoed the proposed change to the law again in 2022.

Evers previously vetoed the subject matter of Question 2 twice, according to Ballotpedia.

On March 21,  The Associated Press reported that the governor also nixed legislation that would have tightened the rules for casting and collecting absentee ballots in nursing homes and required a post-election audit.

Do you think “Zuckerbucks” should be illegal?

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So the ballot initiatives Questions 1 and 2 were the Republican legislature’s way to take the issue of election integrity right to the voters.

Former Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker offered some further background for the proposed changes to the Wisconsin constitution.

“Do you believe that elections in Wisconsin should be run by election officials and not by non-government organizations? If the answer is yes, you should vote yes on the two referendum questions on the ballot all across the state,” Walker wrote in a Thursday post on social media platform X.

“According to the Associated Press, in 2000, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan donated $400 million to two nonprofit organizations to help various government election offices across the country,” he added, noting a bulk of their money went to The Center for Tech and Civic Life, which then distributed it throughout the country.

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The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that $10.6 million went to Wisconsin with the bulk of it, $8.8 million, going to the state’s five largest cities, which happen to be Democratic strongholds: Milwaukee, Green Bay, Madison, Racine and Kenosha.

“Democrats routinely do well in each of these urban areas,” Walker wrote. “In particular, they receive 80 percent or more of the vote in many of the wards in the City of Madison and the City of Milwaukee. Nonprofits helping increase turnout in these wards were actually increasing the turnout for Democrats.”

“This should not be legal whether Mark Zuckerberg funded it on the left or Charles Koch on the right. Elections should be run by government officials,” he said.

As an example, in 2020 Green Bay received a reported $1.2 million grant from The Center for Tech and Civic Life and Democratic operative Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein was named the “grant mentor” for the city.

Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who the Wisconsin Assembly named as a special counsel to look into 2020 election issues, told then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson in 2022 that Spitzer-Rubenstein, a lawyer from Brooklyn, in effect ran the city of Green Bay’s election.

Then-Green Bay city clerk Kris Teske went on leave two weeks before the general election out of frustration with how Spitzer-Rubenstein was usurping her authority, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Democratic Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich “allowed staff who were not educated on election law to run the election, along with people who weren’t even City of Green Bay employees,” Teske wrote in an email in December 2020, according to the Journal.

Democrat Joe Biden carried Wisconsin by 20,682 votes over then-President Donald Trump, a margin of less than 1 percent.

Evers opposes Questions 1 and 2.

“The governor thinks it’s ridiculous Republicans are continuing to try and enact their radical agenda through constitutional amendments because they don’t have the votes to pass their divisive policies through the legislative process,” his communications director Britt Cudaback said, according to Semafor.

According to Republican U.S. House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil of Wisconsin, 27 states have voted so far to ban “Zuckerbucks.”


A Note from Our Deputy Managing Editor:

“He is risen! He is risen indeed!”

Christians around the world will give that call and response this Sunday as we remind each other of Jesus Christ’s resurrection after his death on a cruel cross 2,000 years ago.

So why are you seeing that greeting in an email from a news and politics site? For two reasons. 

First, we’re one of the only news organizations in America that is completely closed on Easter Sunday, so we want to send you Easter greetings early.

Second, the Christian beliefs that compel us to close on Easter are the same Christian beliefs that Big Tech and others hate us for and are trying to put us out of business over.

In a very real way, you our readers are the only ones standing between us and their desire to silence us for defending objective truth, traditional American values and Judeo-Christian ethics.

Western Journal memberships literally enable us to continue covering news, politics and culture from a Christian worldview.

If you aren’t already a Western Journal member, I’m asking you to join this Easter weekend at the discounted price of just $1 for the first month. (Just use promo code easter24 at checkout.)

Even a discounted membership enables us to continue producing interesting, thoughtful and, most importantly, truthful coverage that stands against what’s happening in our country.

Also, since The Western Journal works from a Christian worldview, you will be supporting a site that works hard to be family-friendly, which is more than can be said for just about every other news site out there that lines its sidebars with scantily clad women and salacious headlines celebrating depravity.

On Easter Sunday 2,000 years ago, Jesus won the ultimate victory, and he charged us with tending to the world until he returns. That’s exactly what The Western Journal does on a daily basis, and that’s exactly why Big Tech and the media want to put us out of business.

Please help us to continue fulfilling that charge — help us stand strong against the world and for goodness, decency and most of all Truth.

Sincerely,

Josh Manning

P.S. Please use promo code easter24 to become a member for just $1 for your first month. This offer ends after Easter Sunday, so please take advantage now!

P.P.S. Join our faithful community for Easter and beyond!

Randy DeSoto has written more than 2,000 articles for The Western Journal since he joined the company in 2015. He is a graduate of West Point and Regent University School of Law. He is the author of the book “We Hold These Truths” and screenwriter of the political documentary “I Want Your Money.”

Birthplace

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Nationality

American

Honors/Awards

Graduated dean’s list from West Point

Education

United States Military Academy at West Point, Regent University School of Law

Books Written

We Hold These Truths

Professional Memberships

Virginia and Pennsylvania state bars

Location

Phoenix, Arizona

Languages Spoken

English

Topics of Expertise

Politics, Entertainment, Faith