Reasonable Inference
Jocelyn Benson’s Michigan Center for Election Law and Administration (MCELA) received a multi‑million‑dollar grant from CEIR to fund “voter education” and digital outreach. The national and Michigan reports document that state resources and CEIR funds were used to produce and distribute messaging tailored to demographics associated with “Biden profile” voters, notwithstanding sufficient available public funding for core administration.
Citations
https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/the-michigan-center-for-election-law-and-administration/ (citing MCELA 2020 Form 990). (Documents that Jocelyn Benson-founded MCELA received $12,040,000 from the Center for Election Innovation & Research (CEIR) in September 2020—part of CEIR’s $69.5 million Zuckerberg/Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative-funded voter-education grants—for a statewide campaign informing voters about absentee ballots and safe voting options during the pandemic, including digital outreach via text messages and media buys.)
Id.; see also Frank Daniel Miele, “Zuckerberg-Funded Nonprofit Paid $11.8 Million to Democrat Political Consulting Firms for ‘Nonpartisan Voter Education’ in Michigan 2020 Election,” Star News Network, August 5, 2021, https://thestarnewsnetwork.com/2021/08/05/zuckerberg-funded-nonprofit-paid-11-8-million-to-democrat-political-consulting-firms-for-nonpartisan-voter-education-in-michigan-2020-election/. (MCELA expended $11,889,365 of the CEIR grant on “media strategy and purchase”: $9,799,407 to Waterfront Strategies (GMMB subsidiary, Democratic consulting firm with Biden/Obama/Clinton clients) and $2,088,000+ to Alper Strategies (founded by former DNC political director Jill Alper) for TV/radio air ads, direct mail, and text messaging.)
Breitbart, “Zuckerberg-Funded Group Gave $11.8M to Democrat Consulting Firms for ‘Nonpartisan Voter Education’ in Michigan,” August 6, 2021, https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/08/06/zuckerberg-funded-group-gave-11-8m-to-democrat-consulting-firms-for-nonpartisan-voter-education-in-michigan/ (quoting CEIR). (The grant-funded messaging included “targeted mailings to engage voters” and text messages to “people who have never voted before or have not voted in a long time”; Benson (Michigan Secretary of State) credited the campaign with the state’s low 2020 ballot-rejection rate.)
Tom Gantert, “Michigan Democratic Activists Took Zuckerberg Money for ‘Nonpartisan’ Get-Out-the-Vote Work,” Michigan Capitol Confidential, October 25, 2021, https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/michigan-democratic-activists-took-zuckerberg-money-for-nonpartisan-get-out-the-vote-work; see also InfluenceWatch supra note 1. (National and Michigan reports document that CEIR funds (plus associated state-level coordination under Benson) produced and distributed outreach tailored to first-time and infrequent voters—demographics that aligned with Biden turnout profiles—via Democratic consulting firms; reports note the potential for partisan impact in a battleground state Biden won by <3%.)
InfluenceWatch supra note 1 (citing MCELA Form 990 history). (MCELA reported annual revenues under $50,000 (often near zero) from 2010–2019 and no revenue in 2019, yet received the multi-million-dollar private CEIR grant for voter-education activities that state and local election offices were already funded to administer, raising questions about necessity and the blending of private funds with official operations.)