[Just The News] Legislative Republicans excoriated Gov. Tom Wolf for "playing favorites" after a report concluded his administration helped only Democratic counties secure $21 million in private grants ahead of the 2020 election.Broad + Liberty reported the Pennsylvania Department of State and various left-wing groups worked together to funnel private grant funding to Democratic-leaning counties without offering the same assistance to Republican-leaning counties.
"This latest report indicates the administration and the Department of State played favorites when they connected certain counties to large sums of grant funding while ignoring other counties," Rep. Seth Grove (R-York) said. "Not only did this create unequal access to voters, but it also essentially disenfranchised voters in counties that did not receive equal funding."
About half of the money — procured through the Chicago-based Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL)
| ...Mr. and Mrs. Mark Zuckerberg’s private “grant mentor” NGO that gave millions of dollars to favoured boards of elections heading into November 2020... |
The Center Square previously reported 13 counties across Pennsylvania and the city of Philadelphia received the private grants last year after challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic forced local officials to burn through their annual budgets long before the Nov. 3 election.
In an interview with APM Reports, Chester County's acting Director of Voting Services Bill Turner described the $2.5 million grant his office received as "a lifesaver" that he used to fund 14 drop boxes, body cameras and extra poll workers.
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Center for Tech and Civic Life: 2021-06-01 Madison Becomes Last of Wisconsin's 5 Largest Cities to Face Election Complaint
Center for Tech and Civic Life: 2021-05-31 Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Expands Investigation into Zuckerberg-Funded CTCL
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Center for Tech and Civic Life: 2021-06-01 Madison Becomes Last of Wisconsin's 5 Largest Cities to Face Election Complaint
Center for Tech and Civic Life: 2021-05-31 Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Expands Investigation into Zuckerberg-Funded CTCL
Center for Tech and Civic Life: 2021-05-11 Memos hint Zuckerberg to continue big spending on Georgia election workers, infrastructure