MADISON – State Representatives listed above released the following statement regarding Monday’s Growing Threats to Election Professionals in Wisconsin news conference:
“Senator Bernier announced the Election Official Legal Defense Network (EOLDN) would be providing free legal defense attorneys for election officials. This effort is funded by a non-profit organization called the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR). We question the ethics and legality of clerks receiving pro-bono assistance from non-profits.”
“It is relevant to let the people know that of the $300 million that Mark Zuckerberg donated for elections in 2020, $250 million went to the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) and the remaining $50 Million went to CEIR, who later received an additional $19.5 million for a total of $69.5 million.”
“CEIR founder, David Becker, present at the conference claiming there was no evidence of fraud, has a long history of working in elections. In 2005, an ethics complaint was filed against him for being partisan in a non-partisan role against Republicans as a trial lawyer in the Voting Section in the U.S. Department of Justice. He left that role shortly thereafter and became a senior staff attorney of the left wing activist group People for the American Way in 2006, and became director of their campaign in 2007. Afterward, he became director of election initiatives at PEW Charitable Trusts and created the Electronic Registration and Information Center (ERIC), a national computer voter registration system in 2008 which currently shares voting data in 30 states.”
“We find it interesting and most concerning that this individual, who happens to be the founder of the ERIC system and the CEIR, would need to create EOLDN to offer pro-bono attorneys to defend election officials. We find it further concerning that Kevin Kennedy, former director of Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board, who also led on the John Doe investigation against the Walker campaign, is also on the board of directors for CEIR.”
“It appears the press conference panel’s answer for those who question the integrity of an election influenced by Zuckerberg money, is to bring in more Zuckerberg money from CEIR and EOLDN to protect those who took Zuckerberg money from the CTCL.”
