Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, announced on Tuesday an extra $100 million gift to help with election security.
The funds will support Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) “to ensure that each locale that requirements funding to help people vote safely can get it,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
“Among Covid and inadequate public funding for elections, there are phenomenal difficulties for election officials working to ensure everybody can vote safely this year,” Zuckerberg said.
Last month the couple donated $300 million to CTCL – to support election officials with the infrastructure they need to administer the vote – including voting equipment, PPE for poll workers and hiring additional poll staff.
Center for Tech and Civic Life is a non-partisan non-profit that works to “foster a more informed and engaged democracy, and helping to modernize U.S. elections,” according to its website.
To date, 2,100 local election jurisdictions have submitted applications to CTCL for support, according to Zuckerberg.
“Since our initial donation, there have been multiple lawsuits filed in an attempt to block these funds from being used, based on claims that the organizations receiving donations have a partisan agenda,” posted Zuckerberg.
He said those claims are false.
“These funds will serve communities throughout the country — urban, rural and suburban – and are being allocated by non-partisan organizations.”
Zuckerberg agrees with those who say that the government should have provided these funds, not private citizens.
“I hope that for future elections the government provides adequate funding. But absent that funding, I think it’s critical that this urgent need is met. Voting is voice, and we believe every American should have the chance to make their voice heard in this election.”
Meanwhile, Facebook will begin taking down Holocaust denial posts, reversing its long-held stance against policing the anti-Semitic content. The company will start banning ads that explicitly discourage people from getting vaccinated, the world’s largest social media company said Tuesday, as it also announced a new flu vaccine information campaign.
