Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin have called for Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich, a Democrat, to resign after reports he allowed a group linked to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to run the city’s 2020 elections.
The conservative website Spotlight Wisconsin reported that Green Bay received $1.6 million from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, a nationwide vote initiative bankrolled with hundreds of millions of dollars from Mr. Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan.
The news site reported Mr. Genrich ceded authority to run the polls from the city clerk to the Democratic-allied group, including handing over keys to the main location where ballots were counted.
Wisconsin state Sen. Kathy Bernier, chairwoman of the state Senate elections committee, is one of the GOP lawmakers pressing Mr. Genrich to step down.
“The public has a right to know to what extent Democrat operatives and mayoral staff, among others, interfered with the job of clerks in administering elections,” Ms. Bernier said in a letter this week to Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul.
Gillian Drummond, communications director for the Wisconsin attorney general, said complaints about election conduct should be directed to the right authorities.
“Anyone who has evidence of any alleged election impropriety should provide that information to law enforcement and/or the Wisconsin Election Commission so those agencies can assess that evidence and coordinate an appropriate response. The Wisconsin Department of Justice is available to assist with or participate in a response to such an allegation, but the role that DOJ would play, if any, would depend on the specific evidence and circumstances of the case,” she said.
Democratic lawmakers in the state are dismissing the accusations as an effort to spread “right-wing propaganda.”
Michael Luckey, chief of staff to Ms. Bernier, said the mayor’s emails with the Democratic operatives are public for all to review.
“They pushed the boundaries of propriety, of ethics, and perhaps of law, and caused such a hostile work environment the Clerk and Deputy Clerk of Green Bay resigned,” Mr. Luckey said. “People need to answer to the public. Instead what is happening is Democrats are, out of loyalty to their left-wing Democrat operatives and the money they possess, burying their head in the sand hoping this all blows over with the next news cycle.”
Conservative groups had challenged the Zuckerberg-led effort in courts ahead of the November election but failed.
President Biden won Wisconsin by 20,682 votes. Former President Donald Trump had won the state in 2016 and blamed his 2020 loss on fraud related to mail-in ballots.
The Center for Tech and Civic Life provided grants mostly to Democratic areas in the northeast and Michigan, according to a map on its website. More than 2,500 grants were handed out to localities across the country.
The organization was established in 2015 and received about $400 million from the Zuckerbergs in September and October last year.
Three people who serve as the organization’s top directors previously worked with another liberal grassroots organization as cyberspace operatives.
Neither Mr. Genrich nor the Center for Tech and Civic Life immediately responded to a request for comment.
After Mr. Biden’s election victory in November, a series of legal challenges in Michigan and other battleground states failed to change any of the outcomes in favor of Mr. Trump.
However, concerns about widespread irregularities have spurred Republican state lawmakers across the country to pursue new ballot integrity measures.
Wisconsin Republicans are pushing to reform election laws and are holding hearings on election integrity efforts.
Some of the proposed changes would do away with some ballot drop-boxes, and require voters, not election officials, to fill out absentee ballot envelopes. Voters would also have to file a written request for absentee voting.
⦁ James Varney contributed to this report.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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