Charities are stepping up to pay for U.S. elections
Denver — As Congress balks, well-funded nonprofits are donating hundreds of millions of dollars to help state and local officials run elections during the pandemic — a sudden infusion of private cash in what was once considered a core government function.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, earlier this month announced they will donate $300 million to two nonpartisan nonprofits. The groups, the Center for Tech and Civic Life and Center for Election Innovation and Research, will funnel the money to local officials working “to ensure that everyone can vote and every vote can be counted,” Zuckerberg said in announcing the donation.
The Center for Tech and Civic Life had already doled out more than $20 million from other donors – money that allowed the city of Philadelphia to double its election budget and quadruple its mail-ballot-processing capacity.
In Milwaukee, its contribution is helping recruit as many as 1,000 new poll workers. In Fulton County, Georgia, the cash will help keep open more polling places after a June primary plagued by last-minute closures of polling places.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2020/09/16/charities-stepping-pay-us-elections/114041770/
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