The Sconi

The Wisconsin Voter Alliance (WVA) has appealed a Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) rejection of a complaint that alleged that millions of dollars of outside money accepted by local election officials were not spent to ensure safe elections in November 2020, as stated, but funded a get out the vote campaign for the Democratic Party.

The appeals were filed in the five circuit courts in the counties (Brown, Milwaukee, Dane, Kenosha and Racine counties) incorporating the cities that received the largest share of the grant money from the nonprofit Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL). The group is staffed by former Democratic Party operatives and funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Ron Heuer, president of the alliance, told The Sconi the money funneled to the Democratic-run cities of Milwaukee, Madison, Kenosha, Racine and Green Bay – $8.8 million in all – effectively created a two-tiered voting system in violation of state elections laws. His group also alleges the election practices funded by the money violated an election bribery law.

“The bribery charge is a big deal, a very big deal,” Heuer said.

Former President Donald Trump carried the counties surrounding Kenosha, Racine and Green Bay (Brown) in the 2020 election, while Democratic challenger Joe Biden won the counties surrounding Madison (Dane) and Milwaukee.

The CTCL, flush with nearly $400 million in “ZuckBucks,” granted funds to election officials in Democratic cities and counties in battleground states in the November 2020 general elections. These Democratic strongholds, Heuer said, received much higher per voter funding than rural, Republican ones.

“Kewaunee County (where WVA is based) received $2.72 per voter and Green Bay got $36 per voters,” he said. “Early on some places got nothing from CTCL but we filed a suit in federal court in October before the election and they knew we are on to them. They threw some money at the more rural counties.”

In October 2020, U.S. District Judge William Griesbach dismissed WVA’s suit, a request to block the CTCL funding, ruling in part that the group first had to file a complaint with the WEC. That WEC rejection, which came down in December, was expected, Heuer said.

In exchange for the CTCL money, the election officials had to agree to adopt voting practices, including the heavy use of mail ballots and drop boxes, that would help drive up voter participation. In some instances, CTCL associates were directly involved in overseeing election management, the WVA alleges.

In Green Bay, for instance, CTCL worked with longtime Democratic activist Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein to set election policy in the city, an authority reserved for election officials, according to a complaint filed with WEC by The Amistad Project, a conservative government watchdog group.

"This is about safeguarding future elections and establishing the precedent that private corporations and tech oligarchs should not be calling the shots," Erick Kaardal, who worked as special counsel for The Amistad Project, said at the time the complaint was filed. 

"Wisconsin law puts city clerks in charge of administering elections at the local level, yet internal e-mails show that Green Bay's city clerk was boxed out by the mayor's office, which handed over the keys to the counting room to Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein, a representative of the leftist National Vote at Home Institute (NVHI) and a longtime Democratic Party operative," Kaardal added.

Heuer said that WEC and the cities where complaints were dismissed ignored the evidence and the facts of the case.

“Our appeal to the courts requests that they look at the facts of the case and to hold WEC, the mayors and staff of these cities accountable and responsible,” he said.