Keep Private Money Out of Missouri Election Administration
Running elections is a core public function.
In Missouri, elections are administered by cities and counties.
It should go without saying that election administration should be funded through public channels and accountable to the public, not private money. Trust in our elections is foundational to our system of government.
When election offices accept private donations, as they did in 2020, the entire system is undermined. As soon as private funding enters the equation, election officials become accountable to their donors instead of the voting public.
Earlier this week, the Missouri Senate officially added SB 896 to its formal calendar for perfection.
The bill would prohibit government entities from soliciting, accepting, or using private funds or in-kind goods or services for election administration if those resources are donated directly or indirectly by someone other than a government entity.
In 2020, the primary vehicle for private donations to election offices was the Center for Tech and Civic Life, a nonprofit funded by the Arabella Advisors network, The Democracy Fund, and famously, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan.
These were the ‘Zuckbucks.’
After the 2020 election, the Center for Tech and Civic Life launched the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence. The new program was designed as a response to laws banning Zuckbucks in states across the country, including Missouri.
CTCL said the initiative was part of a five-year, $80 million strategy and presented it as a support network bringing together election officials, experts, and partner organizations.
The Alliance model is different than 2020’s crude cash donations. Instead, election offices pay a membership fee and then receive credits for consulting services from Alliance partners.
“I get something and give something.”
Honest Elections Project Report
The Alliance describes it as offering grants, trainings, resources, and consulting services to participating offices.
These organizations are staffed by partisan consultants. They’re funded by partisan donors.
Are we to accept that their advice is nonpartisan?
Elections belong to the people.
They are not a philanthropic project or a management experiment. Even when private actors claim to be helping, the public has every reason to insist that election administration remain a public responsibility from top to bottom.
Missouri also has real history with this issue. Scotland and Boone Counties were included among the initial Alliance “cohort.” In 2024, then-Scotland County Clerk Batina Dodge withdrew her county from the Alliance.
Kurt Bahr of the Missouri County Clerks Association testified in committee that Boone County has now also withdrawn.
Administering elections costs money, and local officials often operate under real constraints. If election offices need more support, then elected officials should provide that support openly through public appropriations, with public oversight, and public debate.
SB 896 ensures election administration stays public.
It closes the loophole that allowed the privately funded U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence to provide consulting services to Missouri election offices without public oversight.
Missouri should set the standard for election integrity.
Andy Bakker
Executive Director
Liberty Alliance USA