Wisconsin voters on Tuesday were deciding on two Republican-backed constitutional amendments, one of which would ban the use of private money to run elections in reaction to grants received in 2020 that were funded by Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg.

The other proposal would require that only election officials designated by law can administer elections. That is already the law, but adding that language to the Wisconsin Constitution would make it harder to repeal.

Democrats opposed both measures, which they argued would make it more difficult to conduct elections in the presidential battleground state.

Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. following an early, in-person absentee voting period that began two weeks ago.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    34
    edit-2
    9 months ago

    To me, this headline was misleading. I assumed it was about funding campaigns, but this is for the actual process of voting itself.

    The money was spent in a wide variety of ways — protective gear for poll workers, public education campaigns promoting new methods to vote during the pandemic, and new trucks to haul voting equipment.

    The Republicans keep using the same strategy, restrict voting as much as possible. They won’t adequately fund elections, and they are making it illegal for private funders to do so.

  • AutoTL;DRB
    link
    fedilink
    English
    39 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin voters on Tuesday were deciding on two Republican-backed constitutional amendments, one of which would ban the use of private money to run elections in reaction to grants received in 2020 that were funded by Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg.

    Democrats opposed both measures, which they argued would make it more difficult to conduct elections in the presidential battleground state.

    Both proposed constitutional amendments are in response to grant money that came to Wisconsin in 2020 from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, a liberal group that fights for voter access.

    The argument came amid false claims made by former President Donald Trump and his supporters that widespread voter fraud led to Biden’s 2020 win.

    Opponents of the amendments worry they could lead to attempts to stifle current practices enhancing voter participation.

    Three courts and the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission rejected complaints challenging the legality of the grant money.


    The original article contains 458 words, the summary contains 153 words. Saved 67%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • @Dkarma
    link
    19 months ago

    Time to start insisting that this referendum prevents all private money from being used in anything related to elections including candidates.

    This referendum established only public funds are legal to be used in elections in any way.