Zuckerbucks 2 0?

YouTube = https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGobVm8zABdoMmv8Fbc1wMg

Rumble = https://rumble.com/user/SweetHomeStAugustine

Locals = https://sweethomesa.locals.com/

POPULIST REVOLT = https://populistrevolt.com

https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/09/18/zuckerbucks-2-0-lawmakers-eye-private-money-to-get-out-vote-in-milwaukee-elections/?utm_source=TDS_Email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MorningBell&mkt_tok=ODI0LU1IVC0zMDQAAAGG9ECEpZustWBPM7shGelH5LxkuxjNs2T8_UeVFM1fo2IOpkVv_jAg_F2EqJKonaOYIXphtd2v3OBDl56ThdoWjUQRdpwQVd1ekPvD5VaPnIOrTwRc

Two dozen states banned the use of private money to finance election operations in response to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s pouring part of his $400 million fortune into the 2020 election process.

Wisconsin wasn’t one of them.

Now, an initiative to boost voter turnout called Milwaukee Votes 2022 involves some private partners, including a Democrat-aligned political communications company known as GPS Impact.

A spokesman for Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson told The Daily Signal that GPS Impact is “one of several” partners in the initiative, which Johnson announced this week at a press conference.

However, Wisconsin state lawmakers have more questions.

“This is Zuckerbucks 2.0,” said state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, a Republican who chairs the Wisconsin State Assembly’s Campaigns and Elections Committee.

Republicans in both the Assembly and the state Senate are seeking documents showing communications between the city of Milwaukee and GPS Impact.

No lawmaker is alleging that Zuckerberg is funding Milwaukee’s get-out-the-vote program. Rather, “Zuckerbucks” or “Zuck Bucks” have become nicknames for private money that pays for local or state election operations.

A special counsel appointed by the Wisconsin State Assembly issued a report finding that jurisdictions getting Zuckerberg dollars may have conducted an illegal get-out-the-vote operation and violated other state laws.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, vetoed a measure to ban private dollars and private actors from infiltrating election administration offices in the Badger State.

The presidential election results in Wisconsin were among the closest in the country in 2020, with Joe Biden defeating Donald Trump by about 20,000 votes. However, Biden got 79% of the vote in Milwaukee.

Various nonprofit groups in 2020 orchestrated a “well-oiled machine of knowing what ballots are outstanding, who voted, who hasn’t voted” that allowed them “to do a real-time system of turning out the vote,” Brandtjen told The Daily Signal in a phone interview.

“When we heard that they were using this group, this GPS Impact, if you look at the website it clearly is not nonpartisan,” the Republican lawmaker said. “They work for Democrats and progressives to win in states, including Wisconsin. That’s a complete set of red flags.”

She also said it is improper for cities to be working to turn out voters.

“Municipalities are not supposed to be in the business of getting out the vote,” Brandtjen said. “Certainly, say [that] today is voting day and publicize that information. But to know which people have voted and not voted, that’s not the job of municipalities. That’s the job of political parties.”

GPS Impact’s Twitter account includes tweets touting Democrat politicians it works for at the federal and state level, and boasts of work more recently in helping to defeat a pro-life amendment to the Kansas Constitution.

GPS Impact should not be confused with the Washington-based opposition research group Fusion GPS that figured in the false Trump-Russia allegations. GPS Impact did not respond to phone and email inquiries from The Daily Signal for this report.

The Milwaukee Votes 2022 initiative began in May. But on Monday, the city’s mayor announced bigger plans for the program.

“We’re doing more, and I’m going to be embracing outreach and engagement through what we’re calling ‘Milwaukee Votes 2022,’” Johnson, a Democrat, said during the press conference. “As part of that, you will soon see a new website widget on many Milwaukee.gov website pages.”

The planned activity potentially is illegal, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said in a joint statement with other Republican leaders.

Jeff Fleming, the mayor’s spokesman, said in an email Wednesday to The Daily Signal that the city of Milwaukee neither receives nor provides money to support the Milwaukee Votes 2022 initiative.

“All the work is nonpartisan; none of the efforts support individual candidates or causes,” Fleming said. “The mayor wants all eligible Milwaukee residents to cast ballots in upcoming elections. He supports democracy, and he wants voices in Milwaukee to be heard. The city works with any nonpartisan effort that encourages eligible voters to cast ballots.”

Fleming said he didn’t have specifics about the cost of the initiative or the funding sources, but elaborated that partners other than GPS Impact are involved. He noted that plans began in May.