by Patrice Johnson
Staying informed can become a full-time job. That's why trusted sources like the Honest Elections Project and John Locke Foundation feel like a breath of fresh air. The report linked below deals with facts. It cuts through the chaff and presents evidence of the shell game that the U.S. Alliance for Excellence is playing--all in an effort to subvert election outcomes for its biased purposes. Portions of the Executive Summary are reprinted here:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY “Zuck Bucks” 2.0
In April 2022, the left-wing Center for Tech and Civic Life and a coalition of likeminded nonprofits and companies formed a new $80 million initiative called the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence. The Alliance targets local election offices, offering participants an extensive portfolio of grants, trainings, resources, and consulting services. In November of 2022, it announced its first ten member offices—dubbed “Centers for Election Excellence”—that included [Ottawa County in Michigan].
The Alliance claims to be nonpartisan and intended only to “bring together” elections officials “around a set of common values and standards.” However, documents revealed by the Honest Elections Project (HEP)—and reviewed by the John Locke Foundation— show that the Alliance is actually designed to systematically influence every aspect of election administration in target offices and push progressive voting policies. In fact, the left-wing organization Democracy North Carolina praised Brunswick and Forsyth for joining, and linked it to their push for “progressive changes to election laws and procedures.”
Documents obtained by HEP expose that the Alliance is merely a continuation of CTCL’s scheme to use private funding to impact election policy nationwide. In 2020, CTCL was at the heart of the liberal effort to use $400 million provided by Mark Zuckerberg to influence the way election offices functioned and to steer funds disproportionately to jurisdictions that voted Democratic.
Alliance members are also backed by a constellation of liberal dark money groups, including eBay chairman Pierre Omidyar’s Democracy Fund and Arabella Advisors’ New Venture Fund, and are led and staffed by people with deep ties to the Democratic Party and partisan progressive organizations.
A Scheme to Thwart Oversight and Accountability
Through public records requests, HEP acquired communications between Alliance partners and the initial cohort of local election offices—including those in Forsyth County (NC) and Brunswick County (NC). These documents have shed light on how the Alliance is structured and its growing influence over local election offices.
Membership and grant agreements uncovered by HEP reveal an unusual and complex structure that seems designed to thwart meaningful oversight and accountability. For instance, after the Alliance had recruited its first cohort of members it announced plans to begin charging offices to join. However, the Alliance also created “scholarships” to cover those membership costs, which are instantly converted into “credits” that member offices can use to buy services from CTCL and other Alliance partners. As a result, offices receive access to funds they can spend exclusively on services provided by left-wing companies and nonprofits, entirely outside normal public funding channels. Based on documentation obtained through the public records process, these services range from “legal” and “political” consulting to public relations and guidance on recruitment and training.
“I get something and give something.”
Records also reveal the Alliance to be a two-way street. According to notes from one Brunswick official, “I get something and give something.” In exchange for grants and services, offices are expected to provide CTCL and its partners substantial in-kind contributions, at taxpayer expense. Offices are expected to help the Alliance develop its programming and to turn over a vast array of information regarding their inner workings. Members are expected to work with the Alliance to develop and implement an “improvement plan” that reshapes the way each office functions. And grants issued by CTCL come with significant strings attached, despite public claims to the contrary.
Communications obtained through the public records process also show that the group is training officials to rebut public complaints about participation in the Alliance. Emails show Sara LaVere, Board of Elections director in Brunswick, dismissing concerns raised by a Republican member of the Brunswick County Board of Elections quoting the Alliance’s own talking points. She even bragged about her extensive use of trainings, documents, and materials from CTCL and other Alliance members. She also revealed that The Elections Group – part of the Alliance – helped her write columns that she published in her own name during the election.
Banning Private Funding of Elections
As of December 2022, 24 states have enacted bans or restrictions on private funding of local election offices. These laws are widely considered essential safeguards against the corrupting influence of dark money-funded programs like the Alliance for Election Excellence.
Unfortunately, some states (including North Carolina [and Michigan]) have had private funding limits vetoed by Democratic governors, leaving their offices exposed to the influence of special interests and organizations like the Alliance for Election Excellence. Indeed, CTCL and its partners exclusively selected the first cohort of “Centers for Election Excellence” from states without private funding limits.
Banning private election funding is a necessary step to thwart the influence of private election funding, but it is not a silver bullet. Vigilant oversight by lawmakers, rigorous reporting requirements, and total transparency from election offices are also key to maintaining the integrity of elections. Indeed, documents obtained by HEP show deep preexisting relationships between Alliance partners and officials in both Forsyth and Brunswick counties. Tim Tsuji, Board of Elections director in Forsyth, serves on CTCL’s advisory committee, while Sara LaVere’s emails reveal she was already making use of materials and resources from CTCL’s partners before being selected. Other records make it clear that the Alliance aims to grow in scale and scope, emphasizing the importance of constant vigilance.
Great news from Ned Jones:
The First Selectman in Greenwich, CT refuses to sign the CTCL "Alliance" Grant Agreement. Stay tuned.
Source: Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA)
Call to Action: Help Ottawa County, Mich., refuse to accept Alliance monies.
Two threats to election integrity appear particularly pernicious.
Pernicious Threat #1
The first threat to the republic rears its head where we least expect it: in snuggly, apple-pie, grandma-loves-you non-profit organizations. Unlimited amounts of money are pouring into not-for-profit, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like the Alliance and ERIC, the Electronic Registration Information Center Educational NGOs like the Alliance hone in on their lists of eligible voter registrants – for instance for environmental preservation and climate change.
ERIC, the mothership of NGOs, controls a massive (some would say a monopoly) database brimming with the personal information of 61% of the entire nation's driver-aged and older population.
The NGOs are presumably free to further "educate" potential voters. This new breed of NGOs operate under a veil of secrecy and the public's long-standing trust in non-profit organizationsl. In reality, however, these NGOs are laser focused on one goal: To deliver the election outcomes their donors want.
Because these NGOs are third parties and not government organizations, none of them are subject to FOIA requests. In other words, they dodge the public's federally protected right to government transparency--even though NGOs like ERIC enjoy privileged access to the protected and personally identifiable information that only government agencies like Michigan's Department of Motor Vehicles can gather. Plus, ERIC's contract with Michigan's Secretary of State gives it the right to share this information as it chooses with untold and unvetted numbers of subcontractors. Meanwhile, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests need not apply.
Social Media rakes in the dough
Facebook has set up a page for donors to funnel their not-for-profit monies through its organization.
What happens to the funds after that? What is the oversight? According to NPR, the $400 million from Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, "saved" the 2020 election.
Is it possible that "click to donate" is something similar on a larger scale? What about unlimited donations from "dark money," where one is not able to know who gave it? How would one monitor that?
Pernicious Threat #2
The second massive threat to election integrity is the surreptitious voter manipulation conducted by Google, Facebook and other social media. Their algorithms play with links and listings. Quick little ephemerals, that bear no record and appear only momentarily on the viewer's screen, plant subtle messages in the unsuspecting viewer's brain. When a tranche of only negative links refer to a topic or candidate, they shift voters' preferences by tens of millions of votes without voters even being aware of it. "Google and Big Tech can shift millions of votes in any direction," notes Dr. Robert Epstein, who has testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Divided we fall:
From Jeff Schaeper:
Another example of how Fifth Generation Warfare methods are often used against us
by ROBERT W MALONE MD, MS, JAN. 19, 2023
...When members of the same group turn against each other, it often begins with whispers about the most prominent spokespeople of the cause. These rumors typically sound like, “I hear John is controlled opposition” or “some people are saying Jane is compromised.”
While the use of infiltrators and agitators is a very real thing, I've yet to experience one scenario where such a label was accurately applied, and suspiciously, these labels are always branded on the people who are making the most progress. With the degradation of their reputation, goes their contribution to your life.
Prior to social media, people actually sat down to dialog through their differences. Today, without solid evidence or sufficient inquiry, we go directly to our keyboards to vent our suspicions. Even after the rumor is proven false or simply fades away, some level of doubt and division always remains.
This is all by design.
“Part of what allowed so many people to walk away from Assange was some of the MeToo allegations that had surfaced and that were ultimately discredited, but stuck in people's minds.”
The voices of propaganda are masterful at this game. They knowingly run a false story, then retract it, knowing the lie will reach millions, but very few will see the correction.. . .
...Never before have we been so divided. Divided by politics, religion, nation, state, race, class, gender and now vaccine status. To better understand how we got here, consider these three quotes from The Art of War by Sun Tzu:
“The Supreme Art of War is to subdue the enemy without fighting”
“Victorious warriors win first, and then go to war.”
The secret lies in confusing the enemy so that he cannot fathom our real intent.”
Sun Tzu lived over 2500 years ago
It's no coincidence that around the same era as Sun Tzu, the words “United We Stand, Divided We Fall” were first recorded. It is Unity that will save our communities.
United against a common ememy - YouTube – start at the 2:13 mark.
Life Of Brian PFJ meeting to take action - YouTube – what most organizations do. It is good to get action plans going.
Reminder. Don't miss MFE's Zoom at Noon every Thursday. Members only. No press.
For election integrity in Michigan,
Patrice Johnson, Chair