The Associated Press predicts that Wisconsin voters approved two Republican-backed constitutional amendments on Tuesday that will revolutionize how elections are administered in the key battleground state.
Question 1, on the ballot, bans private funding in election administration, which conservatives call “Zuckerbucks.”
Question 2 defines election workers more narrowly. The proposition questioned voters if “only election officials designated by law may perform tasks in the conduct of primaries, elections, and referendums.”
Opponents claimed that the measures were the result of unfounded conspiracy theories after Joe Biden's 2020 election win and that passing them would make it difficult to administer elections in Wisconsin, where the results could affect the presidential election and Senate balance.
Supporters argued the first provision would outlaw “dark money” from elections and the second would simplify election management. The ballot initiatives stem from Trump's backers' baseless 2020 election assertions.
That election, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg donated $400 million to two nonprofit groups to recruit poll workers and buy safety gear during the COVID-19 outbreak. That year, the nonpartisan Center for Tech and Civic Life, sponsored by Zuckerberg and his wife, gave Wisconsin politicians $10 million.
Republican leaders in Wisconsin and the nation have wrongly claimed that the money increased 2020 Democratic turnout. Four years after Trump won, Biden flipped the state.
"Wisconsin has spoken and the message is clear: elections belong to voters, not out-of-state billionaires," stated Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming. "Wisconsinites have turned the page on Zuckerbucks and secured our elections from dark money donors."
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