CASPER, Wyo. — Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray said the presence of a national election nonprofit at the Wyoming Association of County Officers’ meeting in Rock Springs on September 25 is cause for concern and renewed a call for Wyoming to adopt a ban on private funding in elections, as 25 other states have done.
The Chicago-based Center for Technology and Civic Life is noted for giving local election offices around the country more than $350 million in 2020, as reported by the Associated Press. The company is funded partially by money from tech companies like Google and Facebook, leading to the phrase “Zuck Bucks” used by GOP leaders raising the alarm about private money being used in the administration of elections at the local level.
The nonprofit says that its “listening tour” across the country revealed county election departments struggling with limited resources and outdated technology, and its grants are aimed at “creating easy to use resources for administrators, and developing infrastructure to better deliver information about elections.” It also aims to consolidate information about local election processes, offices, and candidates for easier access by voters.
“I have been vocal in my warnings against groups like CTCL and the real dangers of Zuck Bucks and partisan organizations attempting to fund election administration in every state,” Gray wrote in his release, adding that consistently advised Wyoming’s 23 county clerks about his concerns. “As I have previously warned, these grants are also deeply disturbing given the capacity for them to expose states like Wyoming to funding streams linked to potentially foreign actors.”
Gray said the media has not taken these concerns seriously.
State lawmakers advanced a bill to join other states in banning the practice, but it was tabled during the 2024 general session and did not advance, Gray said.
Natrona County Clerk Tracy Good told Oil City News she saw the nonprofit booth’s and engaged briefly, but ultimately wasn’t interested: “I don’t like solicitors,” she said.
Good added that she has “a great working relationship with the county commission,” and that the budget gives her office just about everything it needs to conduct a clean election, though she could always use a few more people to sign up to work the polls on election day.
To read Secretary Gray’s letter to Wyoming’s county clerks, click here.
