Central Wisconsin News

In Town of Spencer, where voting officials received funding from a Mark Zuckerberg-related organization, Democrat turnout increased 18.9% from 2016 to 2020, while Republican turnout increased by 20%.

In 2020, Joe Biden secured 30% of 918 votes, compared to the 29% votes earned by Hillary Clinton in 2016. Grants to voting officials, funded almost entirely by Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, weren’t offered in 2016.

In Wisconsin, Democrat turnout rose 12.8% in areas which received the funding, while increasing 19.8% in areas which did not.

The Republican Party earned 11.3% more votes in Wisconsin districts assisted by the CTCL, compared to 15.9% in jurisdictions without similar funding.

Support for Trump increased in Town of Spencer 2% in 2020.

There were 127 more votes cast in Town of Spencer in the 2020 election than in 2016.

Town of Spencer was one of 218 Wisconsin areas where voting officials received money from the progressive Centre for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL). A $350 million donation from Facebook founder Zuckerberg and his wife provided funding for the grants.

Grants from the organization, ranging from $5,000 to $19 million, were given to voting officials in exchange for specific conditions being followed. This included strategically targeting voters, creating ballots and developing what are known as “cure letters” to correct ballots at risk of being thrown out for discrepancies in signatures.

The influx of private money on such a large scale was criticized throughout the contentious 2020 election.

The CTCL was sued by Louisiana’s Attorney General in October 2021 “to prevent the injection of unregulated private money...and protect the integrity of elections in the State.” The lawsuit wasn’t allowed to proceed by a State judge.

Criticism of the CTCL also stemmed from favoring “predominantly Democratic counties” and even gave them a headstart to apply for funding, according to emails obtained through Right-to-Know requests.

“Mark Zuckerberg is providing nearly as much money to this year’s election administration as the federal government,” Phil Kline with the Amistad Project said in a late October 2020 press release.

The US government, in the run-up to the 2020 election, was criticized for underfunding the electoral process at a critical time.

Area	Received CTCL Funding?	% Change in Republican Support	% Change in Democratic Support
Abbotsford	Yes	-22.5	26
Altoona	Yes	0.4	5
Amberg	Yes	1.4	0.2
Amery	Yes	1.4	3.6
Antigo	Yes	0.6	2.2
Appleton	Yes	0.3	5.1
Athelstane	Yes	4	2.6
Athens	Yes	-37.2	39
Aztalan	Yes	4.2	0.1
Barron	Yes	-12.2	16.6
Beaver	Yes	0.1	1
Beecher	Yes	1.7	1.1
Beetown	Yes	6.9	-3.8
Beloit	Yes	23.8	-20.2
Bennett	Yes	0.1	2.1
Bergen	Yes	6.6	1.9
Berlin	Yes	1.8	1.9
Bern	Yes	6.3	-3.9
Bevent	Yes	6.1	4
Biron	Yes	4.6	1.4
Black Earth	Yes	6	1.5
Brazeau	Yes	3.4	1.7
Brighton	Yes	4.8	1.6
Brodhead	Yes	0.6	4.7
Brookfield	Yes	-2.4	-8.8
Brothertown	Yes	-46.7	49.3
Brule	Yes	4.5	0.9
Cambridge	Yes	1.2	2.3
Campbellsport	Yes	5.2	1.6
Cassel	Yes	4	0.4
City of Chetek	Yes	-6.6	-1.3
Town of Chetek	Yes	1.7	3.3
City of Chilton	Yes	4.1	0.2
Town of Chilton	Yes	-46.8	52.9
Cleveland	Yes	6.8	2.7
Town of Clinton	Yes	8	1.1
Village of Clinton	Yes	5.7	2.7
Colby	Yes	1.3	3.4
Coleman	Yes	6.6	3.3
Cottage Grove	Yes	33.4	-28.9
Crivitz	Yes	2	0.3
Cuba City	Yes	1	4.4
Day	Yes	0.7	1.1
Delafield	Yes	1.2	5.2
Dickeyville	Yes	2.1	1.3
Dodge	Yes	0.1	2.2
Dunbar	Yes	2.7	0.6
Eagle	Yes	0.5	2.3
Easton	Yes	1.9	0.2
Eau Claire	Yes	22.6	-17.7
Eau Pleine	Yes	0	3
Edgar	Yes	2.9	0.4
Edgerton	Yes	1.8	2.6
Elderon	Yes	4.7	0
Elkhart Lake	Yes	2.9	3.7
Emmet	Yes	1.9	1.5
Endeavor	Yes	1.7	1.2
Ettrick	Yes	2.4	0
Evergreen	Yes	2.6	4.9
Fenwood	Yes	15.2	-11.2
Fitchburg	Yes	0.5	4
Fond du Lac	Yes	1.7	2.8
Footville	Yes	2.1	2
Forest	Yes	6.4	1.2
Fort Atkinson	Yes	1.7	2.8
Frankfort	Yes	2.5	1
Franzen	Yes	1.8	0.3
Freedom	Yes	5.1	0.4
Friendship	Yes	1.2	1.6
Fulton	Yes	0.5	2.9
Genesee	Yes	-33.8	39
Goodman	Yes	0.3	0.2
Green Bay	Yes	0.6	3.5
Green Valley	Yes	6.5	0
Greenbush	Yes	5.4	1.6
Grover	Yes	1.2	0.1
Guenther	Yes	4.9	2
Halsey	Yes	8.4	-4.6
Hamburg	Yes	7.5	-4.3
Hamilton	Yes	1.5	1.9
Hammond	Yes	3.8	3.2
Harrison	Yes	14	-4
Hatley	Yes	3.8	2
Town of Hazel Green	Yes	6.7	3.6
Village of Hazel Green	Yes	5.9	2.2
Hewitt	Yes	9	-6.6
Holton	Yes	0.5	2.6
Hortonia	Yes	3.1	0
Hudson	Yes	1.6	5.9
Hull	Yes	0.7	2.2
Iron Ridge	Yes	2.2	1.5
Ixonia	Yes	1.3	2.5
Janesville	Yes	17.4	-13.6
Johnson	Yes	8.7	-5
Kekoskee	Yes	0	0
Kenosha	Yes	-13.8	17.5
Kewaunee	Yes	0.7	3
Knowlton	Yes	4.3	2.3
Kronenwetter	Yes	1	2.4
La Prairie	Yes	-14.1	17.6
City of Lake Mills	Yes	2	2.4
Town of Lake Mills	Yes	1.4	3
Lake	Yes	2	0.7
Lancaster	Yes	3.8	0.6
Lawrence	Yes	3.1	4.9
Liberty	Yes	3.1	0.8
Lima	Yes	1.6	0.7
Lisbon	Yes	0	3
Little River	Yes	4.3	3.1
Long Lake	Yes	7.2	0
Luck	Yes	5.8	2.4
Madison	Yes	1	3.2
Maine	Yes	0	2.1
Maple Grove	Yes	1.2	1
Village of Marathon	Yes	0	1.8
Marathon	Yes	1.1	1.4
Town of Marathon	Yes	2.9	0.5
Marinette	Yes	1.3	1.1
Marshall	Yes	3	1.1
Marshfield	Yes	0.3	3.8
McFarland	Yes	2.2	5.4
McMillan	Yes	0.2	3
Medina	Yes	3.1	1.3
Menasha	Yes	3.9	0.3
Metomen	Yes	5.9	0.9
City of Milton	Yes	0.7	2.6
Town of Milton	Yes	-0.1	-2.2
City of Milwaukee	Yes	0.9	0.6
Milwaukee	Yes	0	2.2
Minong	Yes	1.6	1.1
Montfort	Yes	6.4	1.4
Morgan	Yes	3.6	0.8
Morrison	Yes	3.5	0.2
Mosinee	Yes	3.1	0.1
Mount Hope	Yes	-1.5	-1.5
Mountain	Yes	1.5	0.8
Niagara	Yes	2.6	0.2
Norrie	Yes	2.5	0.4
Oakfield	Yes	2.9	1.2
Oakland	Yes	0.7	3.5
Omro	Yes	2.5	0.2
Onalaska	Yes	0.8	3.5
Ontario	Yes	1.8	0.4
Osceola	Yes	0.1	3.9
Ottawa	Yes	0.2	3.5
Town of Palmyra	Yes	3.1	0.3
Village of Palmyra	Yes	1.3	0.9
Paris	Yes	5.4	2.7
Pembine	Yes	2.2	0.4
Perry	Yes	1.1	2.8
Peshtigo	Yes	0.5	2.8
Pittsfield	Yes	4.8	1.6
Pittsville	Yes	3.5	0.4
Platteville	Yes	-1.2	-7.6
Plover	Yes	0.4	2.6
City of Plymouth	Yes	1.1	2.5
Town of Plymouth	Yes	1.1	2.2
Porterfield	Yes	0.1	0.9
Town of Pound	Yes	0.6	1.8
Village of Pound	Yes	2.1	0.4
Prairie Lake	Yes	4.1	1.8
Readstown	Yes	5.9	5
Red Springs	Yes	5.8	9
Reid	Yes	4.3	2.6
Rhine	Yes	0.5	0.9
Rib Falls	Yes	0.7	1.4
Rib Mountain	Yes	0.2	3.1
City of Rice Lake	Yes	1.9	4.2
Town of Rice Lake	Yes	0.5	1.9
Rietbrock	Yes	4	-2.5
Ringle	Yes	1.7	0.2
River Falls	Yes	-1.7	6.2
Rock	Yes	1.1	1.7
Town of Rock	Yes	3.7	0.1
Rothschild	Yes	-17.8	19
Rush River	Yes	8.4	3.3
Schofield	Yes	3.2	6.4
Sheboygan Falls	Yes	0.2	2.5
Silver Cliff	Yes	0.2	2.5
Solon Springs	Yes	-3.2	-5.6
Town of Spencer	Yes	2.3	0.7
Village of Spencer	Yes	4.4	0.7
Springfield	Yes	1.1	4.7
Stanfold	Yes	2	1.1
Stettin	Yes	1.5	1
Stratford	Yes	0.5	3.1
Sun Prairie	Yes	3	6.5
Town of Superior	Yes	0.4	0.2
Village of Superior	Yes	1.3	2.6
Taycheedah	Yes	1.8	1
Texas	Yes	2.1	0.7
Troy	Yes	1.1	1.5
Turtle Lake	Yes	27.9	-25.5
Turtle	Yes	-6.1	7.9
Two Rivers	Yes	13.8	-10.7
Unity	Yes	-2.4	4.8
Waldo	Yes	1.8	2.8
Waukesha	Yes	0.5	5
Waunakee	Yes	2.4	5.5
City of Wausau	Yes	0.6	3.2
Town of Wausau	Yes	1.2	1.3
Wausaukee	Yes	4.7	9.2
Wautoma	Yes	0.6	2
West Allis	Yes	-3	6.5
Town of Weston	Yes	2.4	5.2
Village of Weston	Yes	0.1	2.3
Westport	Yes	1.2	4.2
Wien	Yes	1.5	0.9
Wilton	Yes	1.4	3.6
Wrightstown	Yes	2.8	0.3
Adams County	No	3.1	0.5
Ashland County	No	2.2	1.6
Bayfield County	No	0.9	4.5
Buffalo County	No	3.4	0.1
Burnett County	No	1.8	1.4
Columbia County	No	1.8	2.4
Crawford County	No	3.2	1
Door County	No	0.7	4
Dunn County	No	4	1.2
Forest County	No	3.3	0.9
Green Lake County	No	0.7	2.6
Iron County	No	1	1.6
Jackson County	No	3.7	0.4
Juneau County	No	2.7	0.3
Lincoln County	No	3.1	1.1
Menominee County	No	2.9	5.3
Oneida County	No	0.2	3.9
Ozaukee County	No	1.4	5.7
Pepin County	No	3.3	0.1
Portage County	No	2.3	1.9
Price County	No	2.9	0.2
Rusk County	No	2.1	1.2
Sauk County	No	1.1	3.2
Sawyer County	No	1.1	4
Taylor County	No	1.9	0.2
Vilas County	No	0.3	3
Walworth County	No	2.1	2.8
Waupaca County	No	2.5	0.7