Chicago City Wire

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are donating $300 million to two nonprofit organizations to “promote safe and reliable voting in states and localities during the COVID-19 pandemic,” a news release said.

The Center for Technology and Civic Life, which will receive $250 million from Chan and Zuckerberg, “pushes for left-of-center voting policies and election administration,” Influence Watch said on its website.

In the key battleground state of Wisconsin, the group has awarded grants to the cities of Green Bay, Kenosha, Madison, Milwaukee and Racine, in part to pay for drop boxes for absentee ballots, which have been supported by Democrats and opposed by Republicans, Spectrum News reported.

“From ensuring that polling places are open and following the latest public health guidelines to providing options for voters to easily and securely return absentee ballots, to making certain that the incredible people who step up to serve as poll workers are protected and well-compensated for their service, we’re proud to partner with the five largest cities in Wisconsin to deliver a smooth voting process that inspires confidence,” the center’s Executive Director Tiana Epps-Johnson said in a July statement on the organization's website.

Zuckerberg and Chan have also donated $50 million to another nonprofit group, the Center for Election Innovation and Research. 

“Due to the unprecedented challenges COVID-19 will have on voting across the country, election officials are working around the clock to make sure that every voter has the ability to participate safely and have their vote counted,” Zuckerberg and Chan said in a statement. “Many counties and states are strapped financially and working to determine how to staff and fund operations that will allow ballots to be cast and counted in a timely way.”

 As with most issues in 2020, drop boxes for absentee ballots have become a partisan concern, particularly in battleground states.

Democrats are supporting drop boxes as an alternative for voters who don’t trust the U.S. Postal Service to deliver their ballots, Reuters reported. Republican officials are banning them in states such as Missouri.

Meanwhile, President Trump's re-election campaign has sued states, including the battleground state of Pennsylvania, alleging that the receptacles will lead to fraud, Reuters and other news outlets have reported.