Legislation would increase transparency for election funds

Legislation recently introduced in the state House of Representatives would ensure equitable distribution and transparency of money funding Pennsylvania’s elections.

Under the bill, the Department of State would be required to invest its spending on election advertising and promotion of voting opportunities equally statewide based on voting age population.

The bill also aims to prevent the reoccurrence of unequal access voting driven by nonpublic funds by preventing county election officials from accepting any private election funding. Interest groups wanting to defray the cost of elections could contribute directly to the Department of State. The department would then redistribute the funding.

The bill prevents the department from accepting any funding that is not free from policy-oriented conditions or restrictions.

Reps. Eric Nelson (R-Westmoreland), Clint Owlett (R-Tioga/Bradford/Potter), and Jim Struzzi (R-Indiana) introduced the bill.

“One of the most concerning events of the 2020 election were the millions spent in private, third-party election grants issued to select counties across Pennsylvania and around the country,” Nelson said. “The Center for Tech and Civic life, a 501(c) (3) organization, created contracts for grants with county-level election officials using a $350 million donation from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Several grants were awarded to Pennsylvania cities and select counties, totaling over $15 million across the commonwealth.”