Arizona Governor Doug Ducey (R) last weekend signed a bill that bans private donations for election processes in the state.
“With public confidence in our elections in peril, it’s clear our elections must be pristine and above reproach – and the sole purview of government,” said Ducey.
The bill passed the Arizona Legislature with no support from Democrats.
It is largely a response to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s $419 million donation to local and state election offices in 2020.
Zuckerberg claims his money went to “nonpartisan” groups “to promote safe and reliable voting in states and localities during the COVID-19 pandemic,” though most of it was distributed by an organization founded by progressives.
Without a law to stop it, such donations could become the newest way for corporations and wealthy donors to influence elections, warns Arizona State Senator JD Mesnard (R-Chandler). “This makes dark money look like a bright day…We should be proactively stopping that before it becomes embedded in America’s election system.”
—
Governments are responsible for their own elections. They should never have to rely on private donations for staffing and voter outreach, added Ducey. During the signing ceremony, Ducey vowed to work with lawmakers in order to provide adequate resources to election officials in the future.
“HB 2569 is another in a series of strong measures Arizona lawmakers have taken to protect election integrity and keep the influence of private money out of Arizona’s elections system operations,” said Jessica Anderson, executive director of Heritage Action for America. “Arizonans deserve an election process free from outside influence and partisan funding – by banning corporate and private funding for election operations, this law will safeguard that system.”
Democratic opponents have described the bill as “voter suppression” and claim it will make the election process more difficult.
Author’s Note: Massive donations such as Zuckerberg’s are a corrupting factor in elections. They must be investigated if not stopped entirely.
Sources:
Arizona Governor Signs Bill That Bans Private Donations for Election Processes
Arizona Legislature votes to ban private funding for elections
SMALL “private” “grassroots” donations are the backbone of many Politicians. However LARGE Corporate donations by so-called “private “owners” are only to “BUY” politicians. ACTUAL “Private” citizens should be able to provide SMALL donations as they wish. Millionaires and Billionaires using their $$$$$$ to “buy ” and influence crooked politicians, and elections should be outlawed. But you know as well as I, that will never happen.
I agree should be banned.
Agree small donations by individuals only to the candidate of your choice. Large “corporate” donations should be mandatory for all corporations and split equally between the candidates. Possibly an amount based on net worth over a certain size and maybe capped. Small corporations could be exempt. This will help fund our elections for the candidates without “buying” them. The problem is not that corporations buy politicians, but that politicians are for sale. They should be the most honorable among us.
In Germany the law states that you can only donate to the party, not to the individual and if an individual receives a donation s/he has to give that to the party, which will list that on their “income” and, it will report that to the “IRS” monthly.
When you spend you get a receipt from the recipient which can be forwarded to the “IRS” with your tax return. – AND – you cannot spend under another name — it needs to be verifiable.. There is a limit how much you can spend. –
It so simple. – So, Soros would not get that far here. –