Zuckerberg money won’t be in next round of aid for elections

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI
Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — The nonprofit that distributed most of the $350 million in donations from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to election offices in 2020 says it won’t disburse similar donations this year. Instead, the Center for Technology and Civic Life said Monday that it will launch a different program that is intended to create a network for local election officials to apply for aid to improve their technology and processes. The move comes after backlash from conservatives following the 2020 election. They were suspicious that the contributions from Zuckerberg tilted the outcome of the presidential race toward Joe Biden. Several Republican election officials have said the program was vital and dismissed criticism of it as conspiracy theories.