"Zuckerbucks" Followed Biden
Voters in Pennsylvania
Trevor Carlsen, Senior Research Fellow

Overview
During the 2020 election cycle, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative poured $400 million intoelection jurisdictions for election activities. Most of the money was funneled into local
jurisdictions through the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), a non-profit run by a former
Obama Foundation fellow, while $50 million went to the Center for Election Innovation andResearch.1-2-3
While Mark Zuckerberg and others claimed these grants were necessary to administer anelection amid the COVID-19 pandemic, very little of the money was spent on personal
protective equipment (PPE), but these “Zuckerbucks” seem to have influenced election
outcomes.4-5-6

New Data Shows Even More Zuckerbucks in Pennsylvania thanPreviously Estimated
FGA’s preliminary analysis of the “COVID-19 Response Grants” in Pennsylvania revealed that
more than $20 million was funneled into 23 election jurisdictions.7 But new data retrieved
from public records requests indicates even more Zuckerbucks flowed into the Keystone
State than previously thought.
CTCL actually allocated more than $22.5 million to Pennsylvania.8 These numbers do notaccount for an additional $13.3 million the state was awarded by Center for Election
Innovation and Research.9-10

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B R I E FZUCKERBUCKS POURED INTO PENNSYLVANIA IN 2020
COUNTY/MUNICIPALITYZUCKERBUCKSAMOUNT

COUNTY/MUNICIPALITYZUCKERBUCKSAMOUNT

Philadelphia$10,516,074

Erie$148,729

Chester$2,558,080

Monroe$113,634

Delaware$2,172,858

Mercer$54,414

Allegheny$2,052,251

Northumberland$44,811Montgomery$1,167,000

Somerset$37,104

Centre$863,828

Armstrong$27,078

Lehigh$762,635

Pike$26,070

Dauphin$482,165

Wayne$25,098

Lancaster$474,202

Venango$21,218

Berks$470,929

Mifflin$17,930

York$321,600

Juniata$11,364

Luzerne$173,236

TOTAL11$22,542,308

Sources: APM Reports and Foundation for Government Accountability

Biden Counties Received Far More Zuckerbucks than Trump Counties
According to CTCL, “grant amounts scaled with jurisdiction size.”12 However, the distributionof Zuckerbucks across Pennsylvania does not correspond with a population-based
approach. Grant amounts varied widely, with counties receiving between $0.60 and $9.97
per registered voter.13 Even more troubling, a higher number of dollars appear to haveflowed to counties that ultimately voted for Joe Biden.
Indeed, counties won by Biden in 2020 received an average of $4.99 Zuckerbucks perregistered voter, compared to just $1.12 for counties won by Trump.14
In addition, one Biden county received less than $1.00 per registered voter. By contrast,
almost all (77 percent) of Trump counties that received Zuckerbucks did so at a rate of lessthan $1.00 per registered voter.15
While CTCL may have considered population numbers when calculating grant awards, it
clearly could not have been the only factor used to determine award amounts.

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B R I E FDOLLARS FOLLOWED DEMOCRATSCOUNTY/MUNICIPALITYREGISTEREDVOTERS16

ZUCKERBUCKSZUCKERBUCKSPER REGISTEREDVOTEROUTCOME

Philadelphia

1,054,459$10,516,074

$9.97

Biden

Allegheny County

926,911$2,052,251

$2.21

Biden

Montgomery County

594,243$1,167,000

$1.96

Biden

Delaware County

407,398$2,172,858

$5.33

Biden

Chester County

368,534$2,558,080

$6.94

Biden

Lancaster County

344,090$474,202

$1.38

Trump

York County

311,942$321,600

$1.03

Trump

Berks County

263,421$470,929

$1.79

Trump

Lehigh County

239,598$762,635

$3.18

Biden

Luzerne County

220,563$173,236

$0.79

Trump

Dauphin County

189,970$482,165

$2.54

Biden

Erie County

177,773$148,729

$0.84

Biden

Monroe County

113,634$113,634

$1.00

Biden

Centre County

105,139$863,828

$8.22

Biden

Mercer County

71,896$54,414

$0.76

Trump

Northumberland County

57,896$44,811

$0.78

Trump

Somerset County

49,120$37,104

$0.76

Trump

Armstrong County

44,892$27,078$ 0.60

Trump

Pike County

42,944$26,070

$0.61

Trump

Wayne County

34,716$25,098

$0.72

Trump

Venango County

33,143$21,218

$0.64

Trump

Mifflin County

27,355$17,930

$0.66

Trump

Juniata County

14,395$11,364

$0.79

Trump

Sources: Pennsylvania Department of State, APM Reports, and Foundation for Government Accountability" Z U C K E R B U C K S "F O L L O W E DA P R I L

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B R I E FConclusion
Pennsylvania should take action to prohibit private organizations from financing andexerting influence over elections. Permitting third-party actors to finance the administrationof elections creates disparities between election jurisdictions and erodes voter confidence.
Policymakers in Pennsylvania can restore trust by preventing local election jurisdictions fromreceiving funds from private parties.

1

Nicholas Riccardi, “Mark Zuckerberg donates $100M more to help election offices,” AP News (2020),
https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-election-2020-technology-local-elections-electionsc2dcfde7fc750b7dd64243b0cf7fbb69.

2

Tianna Epps-Johnson, Center for Tech and Civic Life, https://www.techandciviclife.org/team/tiana-epps-johnson/.

3

Michael Scherer, “Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan donate $100 million more to election administrators, despite
conservative pushback,” Washington Post, (2020), https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/zuckerberg-chanelections-facebook/2020/10/12/0e07de94-0cba-11eb-8074-0e943a91bf08_story.html.

4Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook post, (2020), https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10112459455098901.

5

Hayden Dublois and Nic Horton, “How ‘Zuckerbucks’ infiltrated & influenced the 2020 Florida Election,” Foundation for
Government Accountability, (2021), https://thefga.org/research/zuckerbucks-florida-election/.

6

Trevor Carlsen and Hayden Dublois, “How ‘Zuckerbucks’ infiltrated and influenced the 2020 Pennsylvania election,”Foundation for Government Accountability, (2021), https://thefga.org/research/how-zuckerbucks-infiltrated-andinfluenced-the-2020-pennsylvania-election/.

7Ibid.

8

Author’s calculations based on APM Reports reported grants and responses to public records requests.

9

Center for Election Innovation & Research, “CEIR 2020 Voter Education Grant Program,” Center for Election Innovation &Research, (2021), https://electioninnovation.org/research/ceir-2020-voter-education-grant-program/.

10

Grant amount is the amount awarded. According to CEIR, the “Final grant amount [is] pending. Any unspent funds areto be returned, reducing the total grant.” See https://electioninnovation.org/research/ceir-2020-voter-education-grantprogram/.

11

This total excludes an additional grant to the PA Department of State for which a dollar amount has not yet been
disclosed. According to the terms of the grant, the minimum award amount was $5,000, suggesting a minimum of
another $5,000 in Zuckerbucks spent in Pennsylvania for a total projected minimum amount of $22,547,308. Amounts arerounded to nearest dollar.

12

Center for Tech and Civic Life, “Election offices that received CTCL COVID-19 Response Grants,” Center for Tech andCivic Life, (2021), https://www.techandciviclife.org/grant-update-march/.

13

Author’s calculations based on APM Reports reported grants and responses to public records requests using
Pennsylvania Department of State voter registration statistics. See
https://www.dos.pa.gov/VotingElections/OtherServicesEvents/VotingElectionStatistics/Pages/VotingElectionStatistics.aspx.

14

Ibid.

15Ibid.

16

Pennsylvania Department of State, “Voting & Election Statistics – Voter Registration statistics by county,” Pennsylvania
Department of State,https://www.dos.pa.gov/VotingElections/OtherServicesEvents/VotingElectionStatistics/Pages/VotingElectionStatistics.aspx.

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