North Pima News

A new Arizona law bans election officials from taking private funds to underwrite the costs of running elections.

House Bill 2569, which was sponsored by Rep. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), was signed by Gov. Doug Ducey earlier this month.

With the law, Arizona joins other states, concerned by the millions in private dollars that flowed into the administration of the November 2020 elections, which have already banned the practice, or are considering it. Multiple lawsuits and calls for investigations followed the funneling of the money to local election officials through progressive groups.

Two groups, the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) and the Center for Election Innovation & Research (CEIR), stand out. Both collected millions in donations from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, --  a reported $350 million to CTCL and $67 million to CEIR. Both used the money to target heavily Democratic areas in a get out the vote drive supporting safe and secure elections during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both groups are headed by former Democratic operatives and activists for progressive causes.

“CTCL’s dealings with local government officials should receive thorough scrutiny from both the IRS and state officials,” Scott Walter, president of the Capital Research Center (CRC), which investigated the groups, told Legal Newsline for an earlier story. “The IRS’ legal line for nonprofits like CTCL when they fund voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts is unclear but can be violated.

"Likewise state law on private actors funding government offices is complicated but can be violated,” Walter added. “A presidential election is too important for the questions raised by CTCL not to be investigated, especially given the extraordinary correlation between where CTCL funded in Georgia and large shifts in voting patterns.”

An investigation by the CRC found that CTCL's grants in Arizona were heavily centered in four of the five counties that Joe Biden won. Donald Trump carried the other 10 counties in the state. Biden's counties made up 85% of his total votes. Maricopa County, by far the most populous county, received nearly $3 million. Conversely, only five of Trump's counties were granted CTCL money, and they totaled only 11% of his overall vote count.

For its part, CEIR granted Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs $4.8 million for an advertising campaign, telling voters where and how to vote, according to an Associated Press story.

CEIR was founded by longtime progressive activist David Becker, an attorney and expert in elections law with a resume of working for left-of-center groups, supporting Democratic causes and discrediting Republicans.

In 2005, while working as a trial attorney in the Voting Section of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division, Becker contacted the city of Boston, offering his services to defeat a lawsuit brought by the DOJ for voting rights infractions, according to two former DOJ officials during the George W. Bush administration. His actions were reported to the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility.

“It was the most unethical thing I’ve ever seen,” Brad Schlozman, acting head of the Civil Rights Division at the time, told Legal Newsline for an earlier story. “Classic case of someone who should have been disbarred.”

“He’s a hard-core leftist,” Schlozman added. “Couldn’t stand conservatives.”