South Central Reporter

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has pledged $500,000 in funding through a non-profit to the Macoupin County Clerk’s Office to fund election efforts for the 2024 presidential election.

Macoupin County Clerk Pete Duncan, a Democrat, has defended his office receiving the funding.

“In terms of favoring one party over another in a future election, I’d refer to item 8 of the grant agreement which specifies, among other things, that the money will not be used to attempt to influence the outcome of an election, in support or opposition of a public question, or in support or opposition of a candidate,” Duncan told The Daily Signal.

Macoupin is a Republican-leaning county leading many to believe the funding is meant to sway election efforts.

The county received one of the first grants through the Alliance for Election Excellence which was started only in April of 2022.

The effort is funded by the Center for Tech and Civic Life which was very active in the 2020 elections.

Despite protests from those such as Duncan, the new sheen on the old funding scheme is backed by leftist organizations.

The U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence will provide $80 million to local offices.

When Macoupin was named a finalist Duncan expressed his contentment.  

“We have always strived to provide each voter with the best possible voting experience and this opportunity will only enhance our ability to do that,” Duncan said when the county was

 

“While we may be one of the smaller finalists selected, I believe this shows that Macoupin elections can compete with anyone when it comes to providing a fair election process that every voter can trust.”

The effort is partially backed by Arabella Advisors.

“Arabella has sponsored numerous liberal organizations across the country, some as pop-up groups that exist for a single election cycle, others that spin-off to become independent nonprofits,” the Daily Signal reports.  

Arabella Advisors received tens of millions of dollars from billionaire leftist George Soros.

“The Soros Network gifted close to $36 million to Arabella Advisors’ ‘dark money’ nonprofits ‘to support policy advocacy on structural change’ during Biden’s first year in office, ‘voting rights and court reform,’ ‘democracy reform,’ redistricting, immigration policy, and ‘litigation to prevent voter disenfranchisement and suppression,’" Hayden Ludwig wrote for Capital Research Center.

The expenditure was part of a larger network of politically-motivated groups Soros is funding.

Arabella Advisors also leads the Congressional Integrity Project which has been deemed a “dark money behemoth.”

The group is led by political operatives formerly part of the Obama and Clinton administrations.

Facebook’s Center for Tech and Civic Life is currently under investigation by Attorney General Ken Paxton.

In a press release announcing the investigation CTCL’s leadership, Chicago-based Tiana Epps-Johnson, was noted to have served as the Election Administration Director for a leftist “get out the vote” operation. Indeed critics have noted the funds in 2020 resulted in more votes for Democrats.

“Charities cannot mislead their donors and misrepresent the purpose of their fundraising,” Paxton said in the press release.

“Further, in Texas, as in other states, it is the duty of state and county officials, accountable to the people of Texas, to ensure that elections are fair, safe, and free. That duty cannot be usurped by outside entities who are not chosen by and cannot be accountable to the people of Texas.”