The ban on the new form of “Zuckerbucks” comes after four counties have left the latest project involving private funding of election administration.
Two states are in the process of banning “Zuckerbucks 2.0” – the injection of private money into public election administration – with one focusing on an outright ban, while the other is looking to prohibit foreign funding of elections.
As Indiana has enacted a law to ban a new form of “Zuckerbucks” – also called “Zuckerbucks 2.0” – the Arizona Senate has passed a related prohibition on the foreign funding of elections. Meanwhile, four counties in two other states have left the “Zuckerbucks 2.0” group.
On Monday, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) signed House Bill 1264 into law, which includes multiple election security measures, such as banning “Zuckerbucks 2.0.”
The new law “[p]rovides that a political subdivision that conducts or administers an election may not join the membership of, or participate in a program offered by, a person who has directly financed certain elections activities,” according to the state legislature’s summary.
Two Utah counties and two North Carolina counties have withdrawn from the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence, a project of the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL). There are currently 11 cities and counties across eight states that remain in the alliance. One of those counties, Coconino County, is in Arizona.
