Legislation that bans the use of private funds in the administration of Louisiana elections is speeding through the state legislature. Introduced on Sept. 29 by Republican Leader Blake Miguez (Erath), HB 51 is scheduled for a full House vote next week after clearing the House and Governmental Affairs Committee this week.
“The use of private money would undermine the integrity of the election process,” Miguez told the Lousiana Record. “Funding elections is the state’s role. Politics must be kept out of it.”
The Republican-dominated Senate is expected to move the bill quickly as well, but it’s unclear whether Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, will sign it into law. The legislature could conceivably mount an override if the governor vetoes the bill; Republicans have a super majority in the Senate and are just two seats short of having one in the House.
State law already dictates that the state alone funds the administration of elections, but Miguez said he introduced the “clarifying” legislation after the state’s Attorney General Jeff Landry in September cautioned local election officials seeking grants from the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), and other self-proclaimed good government groups. Complaints filed in federal courts in numerous states backed by the Amistad Project of the Thomas More Society, contend CTCL, which recently received a $250 million grant from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, is promoting a Democratic agenda behind a non-partisan front.
On October 2, the AG followed up by filing a suit in district court in St. Martin Parish seeking a permanent injunction against CTCL, which operates out of Chicago, the New Venture Fund out of Washington D.C, and Dawn Maisal Cole, a Louisiana lobbyist who, the suit says, is acting as a “de facto agent” for the groups.
“Kudos to Attorney General Landry for his courage and grit in standing up to Mark Zuckerberg and his political allies to ensure the integrity of Louisiana's election,” Phill Kline, Director of the Amistad Project, said in a statement. “State election boards and authorities are the umpires of voting. They must be fair, impartial, and independent. When a private, outside party directs their funds to heavily Democratic municipalities only – spending $250 million to do so - it is inherently manipulative and dangerous to election integrity.”
HB 51 covers only elections held during a declared emergency. Miguez said he plans to introduce legislation in the spring that would ban the mingling of private funds in the administration of all future elections.