A nonprofit group funded largely by Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan that helped municipalities absorb the extra cost of administering the 2020 elections imposed by the coronavirus awarded more grants to Republican jurisdictions won by former President Donald Trump than Democratic communities that supported President Joe Biden.
At the time Zuckerberg and Chan’s ultimately $350 million in contributions to the Center for Tech and Civic Life were publicized, conservative critics derided the money as “Zuckerbucks” and charged that the donations were an attempt by the Facebook founder to manipulate the election for Democrats. Sensitive to the criticism, Zuckerberg and Chan tapped prominent Republican election lawyer Michael Toner to review the grants CTCL awarded last year to counties and other jurisdictions across the country.
