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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 28 July 2020
Wealthy donors pour millions into fight over mail-in voting

Continued from Front cratering tax revenue.
“Due to COVID, there de-
But the coronavirus is for- finitely has been a higher
cing changes to the way cost,” said Mayor John
states conduct elections Antaramian, of Kenosha,
and prompting activists which received $863,000
across the political spec- through the grant — rough-
trum to seek an advanta- ly four times what the city
ge, recognizing the contest budgeted for the election.
between Trump and Demo- “Is there a financial shortfall
crat Joe Biden could hinge on that basis? Of course.”
on whether voters have an Much of the money on the
alternative to standing in li- left is likely to come from
nes at polling places during a series of nonprofit funds
a public health crisis. controlled by the consul-
Some groups are even rai- ting firm Arabella Advisors,
sing money to prepare for which typically routes up-
election-related violence. wards of $500 million a year
“The pandemic has crea- to causes supported by li-
ted a state of emergency,” beral donors. The firm was
said Laleh Ispahani, the founded by Eric Kessler,
U.S. managing director for who served in Bill Clinton’s
Open Society, a network of White House.
nonprofits founded by bil- The firm has been instru-
lionaire progressive donor In this May 27, 2020 file photo, processed mail-in ballots are seen at the Bucks County Board of mental in financing so-cal-
George Soros. “Donors who Elections office prior to the primary election in Doylestown, Pa. Associated Press led resistance groups follo-
haven’t typically taken on wing Trump’s election. And
these issues now have an the public. In other instan- share an attorney, William atened voting laws cham- some nonprofits they’ve
interest.” ces, funding comes from Consovoy, with the Repu- pioned by conservatives. provided seed money
How much will be spent is charitable foundations blican National Commit- And Trump’s repeated fo- were responsible for millions
unclear because many of built by the fortunes of Gil- tee, which has pledged cus on “rigged elections” of dollars in TV advertising
the organizations are non- ded Age industrialists. $20 million for voting litiga- has made the issue part of that blistered Republicans
profits that won’t disclose Litigation is a primary focus. tion. a broader culture war. during the 2018 midterms.
those details to the IRS until Democrats and good go- Leonard Leo, a Trump confi- Still, some activists question They’ve also pioneered
well after the election. Even vernment organizations are dant who was instrumental the GOP establishment’s the practice of creating
then, many sources of mo- pushing to eliminate hurd- in the confirmations of the commitment to the cause. “pop-up” organizations:
ney will remain unknown les to absentee voting, like president’s Supreme Court “They aren’t going to take groups that appear to be
because such groups don’t requiring a witness’s signa- nominees, plays a leading on Republicans like we grassroots-driven efforts
have to disclose their do- ture or allowing third parties role. He’s now chairman of have,” said Catherine En- to influence public policy,
nors, commonly referred to to collect ballots. a public relations firm cal- gelbrecht, the founder of which use trade names
as “dark money.” Conservatives say that led CRC Advisors, which is True the Vote. that obscure a deep pool
Tax filings, business records amounts to an invitation overseeing a new effort to While Republicans are fo- of resources from those
and campaign finance dis- to commit voter fraud. As establish a clearinghouse cused on the courts and with ideological or financial
closures offer some clues. these issues wind their way for anonymous donors to raising doubts about vote motivations.
They reveal vast infrastruc- through courts, they say fund conservative causes, by mail, the challenge fa- The firm recently registered
ture that funnels money judges could decide com- including the fight over ced by Democrats is far a handful of trade names
from wealthy donors, throu- plex policy matters that of- vote by mail. more daunting. for groups that appear to
gh philanthropic organiza- ten were already debated The firm played a significant In addition to litigation, be focused on voting rights,
tions and political groups, by state legislatures. role in the 2004 election they must mobilize their records show.
which eventually trickles “The wrong way to go by publicizing unfounded base during a pandemic. Another effort Arabella Ad-
down to smaller nonprofits, about this is to run to court, claims made by a group That includes educating visors are involved in, the
many of which operate un- particularly a week or two called Swift Boat Veterans the public about vote by Trusted Elections Fund, aims
der murky circumstances. before an election, try- for the Truth, which ques- mail, a difficult task when to raise between $8 million
On the conservative side, ing to get judges to inter- tioned Democratic nomi- door-to-door canvasing and $10 million in case the
organizations including Ju- vene and second-guess nee John Kerry’s record as isn’t an option. pandemic leads to chaos
dicial Watch, the Honest decisions legislatures have a Vietnam War hero, re- Some groups are donating in November.
Elections Project, True the made,” said Jason Snead, cords show. directly to local govern- The group is preparing for
Vote and the Public Inte- the executive director of The group’s involvement in ments. In Wisconsin, the potential foreign hacking
rest Legal Foundation are the Honest Elections Pro- vote by mail marks a sea Center for Tech and Civic of state voting systems,
litigating cases related to ject. change for Republicans. Life, a nonprofit with ties to “election day or post-elec-
voting procedures across His organization is a newly Claims of widespread voter left-leaning philanthropy, tion day violence,” as well
the U.S. formed offshoot of the Ju- fraud have long energized has donated $6.3 million to as contested results.
A substantial portion of the dicial Education Project, a segments of the party’s the state’s five largest cities A Trusted Elections Fund
financing comes from Do- group that previously fo- base. But it did not elicit to set up ballot drop boxes, representative declined to
nors Trust, a nonprofit often cused on judicial appoint- much interest from donors, help voters file absentee comment. But a two-page
referred to as the “dark ments and received more and the handful of groups ballot requests and expand summary available online
money ATM” of the con- than $25.3 million between devoted to the issue ope- in-person early voting. elaborated on their aims.
servative movement. The 2016 and 2018 from the rated on minuscule bud- Even before the pande- “Philanthropy has a respon-
organization helps wealthy Donors Trust, records show. gets. mic, government funding sibility to make sure that we
patrons invest in causes They are deeply intertwined But in recent years, De- for elections was limited. are prepared for emergen-
they care about while shel- with the conservative Ca- mocrats have mounted Since then, the outbreak cies that could threaten
tering their identities from tholic legal movement and legal challenges that thre- has escalated costs while our democracy,” it read.q