Progressives are using legal loopholes and the power of the federal government to maximize Democrat votes in the 2024 election at taxpayers expense‚ RealClearInvestigations has found.The methods include voter registration and mobilization campaigns by ostensibly nonpartisan charities that target Democrats using demographic data as proxies‚ and the Biden administrations unprecedenteddemandthat every federal agency consider ways to expand citizens opportunities to register to vote and to obtain information about‚ and participate in‚ the electoral process.A dizzying array of overwhelmingly democracy-focused entities with ties to the Democratic Party operating as charities and funded with hundreds of millions of dollars from major liberal dark money vehicles are engaged in a sprawling campaign to register the voters‚ deliver them the ballots‚ and figuratively and sometimes literally harvest the votes necessary to defeat Donald Trump.These efforts‚ now buttressed by the federal government‚ amplify and extend what Time magazinedescribed as a well-funded cabal of powerful people ranging across industries and ideologies‚ who had worked behind the scenes in 2020 to influence perceptions‚ change rules and laws‚ steer media coverage and control the flow of information to defeat Trump and other Republicans. The shadow campaigners‚ Time declared‚ were not rigging the election; they were fortifying it.Heading into 2024‚ there is not a shadow campaign‚ said Mike Howell‚ executive director of The Heritage Foundations Oversight Project. There is an overt assault on President Trump and those who wish to vote for him occurring at every level of government and with the support of all major institutions. (The Daily Signal is the news organization of The Heritage Foundation.)By contrast‚ Republican Party stalwarts lament that no comparable effort exists on their side. The GOPs turnout and messaging efforts seek to thread a difficult needle by encouraging early and absentee voting and ballot-harvestingpandemic-era measures that Trump and supporters blame for his 2020 electoral defeatwhile the party simultaneously fights the mainly blue-state laws that made the practices possible. The partys position is further complicated by its standard-bearers warnings of a rigged election bigger than in 2020‚ which somespeculatecould turn off moderate swing voters.Electioneering Super-WeaponsTheIRSpermitstax-exempt nonprofit groups to engage in voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives so long as they do not refer to any candidate or political party nor conduct their activities in a biased manner that favors (or opposes) one or more candidates prohibited.These entities have become magnets for funds not only from wealthy donors‚ who can contribute without traditional campaign finance limitsand get a tax break to bootbut also abundantly endowed private foundations that are prohibited from engaging in partisan activities.In recent years‚ dozens of progressive-oriented 501(c)(3)s‚ now pulling in upward of $500 million annually‚ have engaged in purportedly neutral efforts to impact elections‚ according toHayden Ludwig‚ director of policy research at the election integrity-focused advocacy group Restoration of America.In practice‚ critics like Ludwig argue‚ left-leaning charities flout the law by registering and mobilizing demographics that tend to vote disproportionately Democratic behind a veil of nonpartisan democracy promotion.During the 2020 election‚ for example‚ the Voter Participation Center solicited millions of ballot applications in swing statesmany of them prefilled for respondents. This nonprofit‚ like its peers‚ is clear that it isnt targeting just any voters‚ but whatitand progressiveactivistshave dubbed a New American Majority of young people‚ people of color and unmarried women.Tom Lopach‚ a longtime Democratic Party operative and the centers president and CEO‚ told RealClearInvestigations in a statement: We do the work that state election officials typically do not doseeking out underrepresented voting-eligible Americans This is difficult but necessary work that brings democracy to eligible Americans doorsteps.In 2020‚ Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan showed how supposedly neutral efforts can have a partisan impact when they funneled some $400 million through twoprogressiveledbut purportedly nonpartisan nonprofits intoelection officesacross the country.That moneydisproportionately wentto jurisdictions that Joe Biden won in the pivotal battleground states that delivered his victory‚ often flowing to left-leaning nonprofits to whom election offices outsourced the administration ofsometimes critical functions.In April 2022‚ a primary conduit of these so-called Zuckerbucks‚ the Center for Tech and Civic Life‚ announced the launch of a successor to the 2020 effortthe U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence‚ a five-year $80 million program to envision‚ support‚ and celebrate excellence in U.S. election administration.The left has assembled an impressive election-industrial complex of nonprofit organizations that is constantly working towards goals like promoting participation targeting underrepresented minorities‚ said Jason Snead‚ executive director of the conservative Honest Elections Project. Such terms‚ Snead says‚ are code for identifying and mobilizing liberal voters.Election experts view such activities as potentially decisive.Nonpartisan and charitable voter registration and get-out-the-vote groups are the Democratic Partys electioneering super-weapon[s]‚ said Parker Thayer‚ an analyst with theconservative-orientedCapital Research Center in Washington‚ D.C.Everybody Votesbut for Whom?Of these‚ Thayer sees the Everybody Votes Campaign as ofparamount importance.Born of a plan commissioned by [Hillary] Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta‚ funded by the Democratic Partys biggest donors‚ and coordinated with cut-throat Democratic consultants‚ Thayer writes in an extensiveanalysisof the groups efforts‚ the Everybody Votes campaign [has] used the guise of civic-minded charity to selectively register millions of non-white swing-state voters in the hopes of getting out the Democratic vote.It does so by funding and training over 50 community groups to register voters toclosethe voter registration gap in communities of color‚ which it attributes to modern forms of Jim Crow laws‚ such as voter ID requirements‚ the groups executive director‚ Nellie Sires‚ said in a January 2024interview.From 2016-2021‚ the Everybody Votes Campaign‚ doing business as three entities‚ collected over$190 millionfrom major Democratic Party donors‚ unions‚ and environmental activists. Some of thelargest donorsinclude the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund; the New Venture and Hopewell funds‚ managed by for-profit consulting firm Arabella Advisors; and the George Soros-funded Foundation to Promote Open Societyall 501(c)(3) public charities or private foundationsforbiddenfrom supporting voter education or registration activities with evidence of bias.The Everybody Votes Campaign distributed the funds to a slew ofleft-leaning state-based voter registration organizationslargely in eight pivotal states from 2016 to 2019Arizona‚ Colorado‚ Florida‚ Georgia‚ Ohio‚ North Carolina‚ Virginia‚ and Nevadaand then to Pennsylvania‚ Michigan‚ and Wisconsin in 2021.According to Thayersanalysis‚ the Everybody Votes Campaigns voter registration push would have provided Democrats more votes than the total margins of victory in Arizona‚ Georgia‚ Nevada‚ and Pennsylvania‚ securing Bidens victory in the 2020 election.4 to 10 Times More Cost-EffectiveOne notable backer of the Everybody Votes Campaign is Mind the Gap‚ a Moneyball-style Silicon Valley Democratic super PAC founded by Stanford law professor Barbara Fried‚ andconnectedto the political activities of her convicted crypto-fraudster son‚ Sam Bankman-Fried.The analytics-focusedoutfitprepared a confidential strategy memoleakedin advance of the 2020 election‚ noting that 501(c)(3) voter registration focused on underrepresented groups in the electorate would be the single most effective tactic for ensuring Democratic victories4 to 10 times more cost-effective on after-tax basis at garnering additional Democratic votes relative to alternatives like broadcast media and digital buys.Mind the Gap recommended that donors contribute to three organizations: the Voter Participation Center and its sister organization‚ the Center for Voter Information for mail-based registration efforts‚ and Everybody Votes for site-based registration efforts.The largest grant recipient‚ receiving $24 million during the 2016-2021 period‚ wasState Voices‚ which describes itself as a nonpartisan network of 25 state-based coalitions that collectively partner with over 1‚200 organizations consisting of advocates‚ organizers‚ and activists work[ing] together to fight for a healthy democracy and political power for Black‚ Indigenous‚ Latinx‚ Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI)‚ and all people of color (BIPOC).Another top recipient‚ raking in over $10 million‚ was the Voter Participation Center.According to the Capital Research Center‚ the Everybody Votes Campaign wouldcollectand spend over $50 million in connection with the 2022 midterm electionsthe most recent period for which financials are available. All told‚ since its founding in 2015‚the campaign says‚its network has registered 5.1 million voters‚ of whom 76% are people of color; 56% are women; and 47% are under the age of 35.Last November‚ the news outlet Puckreportedon a secret memo circulated by Mind the Gap regarding its plans for 2024. Our strategy early in the 2024 presidential race will be to massively scale high-performing voter registration and mobilization programs‚ the memo read. The PAC again specifically directed donors to the Everybody Votes Campaign‚ which did not respond to requests for comment.Lopach‚ who has worked in Democratic Party politics his entire career‚ bristled at RealClearInvestigations questions regarding critics claims of a partisan bent to its work. The presumptions baked into the questions emailed to us are inaccurate and reveal the reporters own biases‚ he responded‚ while emphasizing the organizations targeting of underrepresented voting-eligible Americans.Thayer has dubbed Everybody Votes the largest and most corrupt charitable voter registration drive in American history.Of such organizations claims of nonpartisanship‚ Howell told RealClearInvestigations: If they were truly interested in an informed participatory constitutional Republic‚ they would have an even-handed approach to registering voters.Call me when they show up to a NASCAR race‚ Daughters of the American Revolution event‚ or a gun show‚ Howell added. Then we can pretend for a minute that these are beyond just facial efforts to appear somewhat neutral.Challenges for GOPBut NASCAR races have not been hubs for GOP-led voter registration efforts either. Restoration of Americas Ludwig estimates that the Right may spend as little as 1% of what the Left spends on voter registration efforts.A recentmemofrom the Sentinel Action Fund‚ a super PAC that aims to elect conservatives‚ noted that in the 2022 election cycle‚ while $8.9 billion was spent on federal elections‚ there were zero large independent expenditure organizations on the Right focused on get-out-the-vote efforts or ballot chasing.Republican Partyvehiclesand conservative outfits like grassroots-orientedTurning Point Action‚ a 501(c)(4)‚ are engaged in such efforts in the 2024 cycle‚ but the scale and sophistication of their political counterparts efforts would appear unrivaled at this point.Election experts attribute this gap to several factors beyond the GOPs focus on other tactics to win elections‚ or ineffectiveness. They note that Democratic voters tend to be more concentrated in urban areas and college campuses‚ making it easier to run efficient registration drives. As regards early and absentee voting and ballot harvesting‚ it is not clear if these efforts will substantially grow the pool of Republican voters versus merely enabling the party to bank votes earlier.With respect to the use of 501(c)(3)s to conduct such activities‚ Ludwig said some conservatives may still be fearful of running afoul of the IRSthrough exploiting tax laws to pursue efforts perceived to be partisan effectively on the taxpayers dimein the wake of itstargetingof tea party groups for extreme scrutiny during the Obama years.Bidenbucks: Zuckerbucks on SteroidsSince the 2020 election‚ Democrats have opened a second apparent electioneering front that Republicans could not match even if they wanted to: The rise of so-called Bidenbucks‚ which uses the unlimited funding‚ resources‚ and reach of the federal government and agency offices located nationwide to turn out favored voters‚ according to Stewart Whitson‚ legal director of the conservative Foundation for Government Accountability.In March 2021‚ President Joe Biden introducedExecutive Order 14019. The directive on promoting access to voting orders every federal agency‚ more than 600 in all‚ to register and mobilize votersparticularly people of color and others the White House says face challenges to exercise their fundamental right to vote. It further directs the agencies to collaborate with ostensibly nonpartisan nonprofits in pursuit of its goals.As RealClearInvestigations haspreviously reported‚ Executive Order 14019 appears to have been designed by left-leaning think tank Demos and implemented in consultation and sometimes coordination with a slew of progressive‚ labor‚ and identity-focused groups with the goal of generating up to 3.5 million new or updated voter registrations annually.The ACLU and Demos havereportedlyhelped execute the order. RealClearInvestigations additionally found that at least two recipients of grants under the Everybody Votes Campaign‚ the NAACP and UnidosUSformerly the National Council of Razawere also listed on anemailas participants in a July 2021 listening session on the executive order convened by the White House and agency officials.Whitson‚ whose organization unearthed that email in its fight to expose details about the order‚ emphasized that [U]nlike 2020 wherein the shadow campaign was conducted by private citizens seeking to influence government election operations from the outside‚ the threat we face in 2024 is being launched fromwithinthe government itself.Facing both congressional scrutiny and litigation‚ the administration has closely guarded the strategic plans agencies were to develop to carry out the order‚ how they are implementing them‚ to what end‚ and with whom.Perfunctory press releases‚ reports from groups supportive of the order‚ and documents slowly ferreted out via Freedom of Information Act requests and litigation‚ however‚ demonstrate that relevant agencies have sought to drive voter registration via public housing authorities‚ child nutrition programs‚ and voluntary tax preparation clinics.In August 2023‚ U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issuedupdated guidancecalling for the agency to register voters at naturalization ceremonies.More recently‚ the Department of Education did thesame‚ blessing the use of federal work-study funds to pay students for supporting broad-based get-out-the-vote activities‚ voter registration‚ and other activities. Scott Walter‚ president of the Capital Research Center‚ recently told The Epoch Times that the department had previouslythreatenedschools that you better be registering students or you could lose your federal funds.When asked by RealClearInvestigations to respond to Walters claim‚ the Department of Education would not. Over two dozen Pennsylvania state legislatorschallengedthe order via a lawsuit in January. Citing alleged unlawful attempts by several agencies to register Keystone State voters‚ the lawmakers asserted:By engaging in a targeted voter registration effort of this magnitude‚ focused specifically on these agencies and the groups of potential voters they interact with‚ leveraging the resources and reach of the federal government‚ this effort appears to be a taxpayer-funded get-out-the-vote effort designed to benefit the current Presidents political party.Echoing this view‚ Whitsons Foundation for Government Accountability submitted anamicus briefnoting that all of the federal agencies FGA has identified as taking active steps to carry out EO 14019 have one thing in common: They provide government welfare benefits and other services to groups of voters the vast majority of which have historically voted Democrat.The plaintiffs alleged the executive order violated both Pennsylvania law limiting voter registration efforts to non-federal actors and constitutional provisions reserving election laws to the states. On March 26‚ a district court dismissed the case‚ claiming the plaintiffs lacked standing. Whitson told RealClearInvestigations that others would likely lodge similar lawsuits‚ building on the Pennsylvania legislators case in the wake of the dismissal. Days later‚ The Federalistreportedthat the plaintiffs intended to appeal their case to the U.S. Supreme Court. A White House spokesperson did not reply to RealClearInvestigations inquiries regarding the executive order.Opposition and CircumventionRepublicans have had more success opposing the use of Zuckerbucks and other private monies used to finance public elections. More thantwo dozen stateswould move toban or restrictsuch grants in response to the activities observed during the 2020 election.Most recently‚ Wisconsin‚ where some of the mostcontroversialZuckerbucks-relatedeffortstook place‚ was added to that list when‚ on April 2‚ voters approved a constitutional amendment barring the private funding of elections.Despite this crackdown and the feds seemingly stepping into the breach‚ efforts to privately finance election administration persist. The U.S. Alliance for Election Excellencebills itselfas an initiative to bolster woefully unsupported election offices to revitalize American democracy.The organizationsaysit services jurisdictions11 listed on its website‚ ranging across states from Arizona to California and Wisconsinwith training‚ mentorship‚ and resources. Alliance officials did not respond to RealClearInvestigations inquiry about whether it would be terminating the relationship with the city of Madison‚ Wisconsin‚ in light of the passage of the recent ballot measure that would seem to have barred it. Nor did it respond to RealClearInvestigation other inquiries in connection with this article.Most of these partnerships were initiated with jurisdictions in states that have not banned Zuckerbucks‚ though it has sought tocircumventsuch prohibitions in Georgia and Utah. The stated goal of the Alliance for Election Excellence is to support voters via measures like assisting participating centers in redesigning forms to make them more intuitive and purchasing infrastructure to improve election security and accessibility.Alliance launch partners include entities such as:The Center for Civic Design‚ which works with election offices using research‚ design‚ accessibility‚ and plain language to remove barriers in the voter journey and invite participation in democracy.The Elections Group‚ to implement new programs or improve processes for voters and stakeholders.The Center for Secure and Modern Elections to modernize the voting system‚ making elections more efficient and secure.Critics argue this seemingly more modest effort is‚ in reality‚ an ambitious Zuckerbucks rebrand.Sneads Honest Elections Project published areportin April 2023‚ based in part on documents received from FOIA requests‚ indicating that the Alliance is a reinvention of CTCLs scheme to use private funding to strongarm election policy nationwide.Among other takeaways‚ it found that:The alliance offers services that touch every aspect of election administration‚ ranging from legal and political consultation to public relations‚ guidance‚ and assistance with recruitment and training.The alliance is gathering detailed information on the inner workings of participating election offices and developing improvement plans to reshape the way they operate.The report shows that many of the alliances launch partners‚ starting with the Center for Tech and Civic Life and the Center for Civic Design‚ are funded by major Democrat-tied‚ so-called dark money groups such as the Democracy Fund and Arabella Advisors New Venture Fund and Hopewell Fund.The Democracy Fund is led by Democrat tech billionaire Pierre Omidyar‚ which has granted some $275 million to like-minded organizations from publications like Mother Jones and ProPublica to the Voter Registration Project since its founding.The District of Columbia recentlyclosed a criminal investigationintoArabella‚ whose fund networkreportedlyspent nearly $1.2 billion in 2020 alone‚ after probing it over allegations itsfundswere pursuing political ends in violation of their tax-exempt statuses. The Center for Secure and Modern Elections‚ the Honest Elections Project says‚ pushes left-wing priorities like automatic voter registration and is run by the New Venture Fund. The Elections Groups CEO and co-founder‚ Jennifer Morrell‚ previously served as a consultant at the Democracy Fund.The Capital Research Centers Walter uses a football analogy to explain why he sees these efforts as untoward. He told RealClearInvestigations:Election offices are the refs in elections; the parties are teams trying to score. Youd be puzzled if you heard Super Bowl refs say theyre trying to boost points scored. Youd be outraged if you learned those refs had received money and training from people who previously worked for one teams offensive coaching staff. Thats what left-wing political operatives‚ using left-wing money‚ are doing‚ and its clearly unfair.Non-Trump LawfareDemocrat-aligned groups continue to engage in litigation‚ like that brought by chief election lawyer Marc Elias‚ aimed at loosening election laws to their benefit. Snead told RealClearInvestigations‚ There are more than 70 active lawsuits right now targeting voter ID laws‚ anti-ballot harvesting laws‚ signature verification‚ drop box regulations‚ and more.After securing victory in a lawsuit requiring signature verification for mail voting in Pennsylvania‚ the Republican National Committee touted its engagement as well in 81 election integrity cases this cycle. Swing-state Wisconsin is another major battleground for such efforts.There‚ Elias legal team has challenged witness signature requirements and bans on election clerks filling address information on mail-in ballots. It and others are alsoworkingto overturn a state Supreme Court decision finding drop boxes illegal. The Badger States now liberal-majority Supreme Court announced in March it would take up the case.Cutting against these efforts are not only the states citizen-approved Zuckerbucks ban‚ but another Badger-passed April 2ballot measureamending the states constitution to prohibit those other than an election official designated by law from carrying out election-related tasks.Watchdogs like Howell are concerned that left-leaning electioneers and lawfare forces collectively are pursuing an election dis-integrity strategy to greatly expand the universe of ballots while limiting any ability to ensure that they are fairly cast and counted.Its a basic recipe for fraud.Eliassaysthose seeking to combat such efforts are engaged in voter suppression and election subversion.Democrats also have the federal government working on their side on the litigation frontand in ways extending beyond the veritable lawfare barrage the Biden Justice Department has leveled at Trump.Speaking in Selma‚ Alabama‚ on the 59thanniversary of Bloody Sunday‚ the 1965 police assault on civil rights marchers‚ Attorney General Merrick Garlanddeclaredthat the right to vote is still under attack.Garland vowed the Department of Justice was punching back‚ including challenging efforts by states and jurisdictions to implement discriminatory‚ burdensome‚ and unnecessary restrictions on access to the ballot‚ including those related to mail-in voting‚ the use of drop boxes‚ and voter ID requirements.This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.The post How Taxpayers Will Heavily Subsidize Democrat Boots on the Ground This Election appeared first on The Daily Signal.