Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said on Tuesday that he would donate an additional $ 100 million to local election administrators, while dismissing the accusations of partisan motives.
This financial assistance is in addition to the $ 300 million already pledged by Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan last month for the same reason.
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It will be used to buy voting machines, health protection equipment for people working in polling stations and additional agents, the entrepreneur detailed in a message on Facebook.
“Between the Covid and insufficient public funding for the elections, election officials who strive to make sure everyone can vote safely this year face unprecedented challenges
,
”
he wrote.
He increased the amount of his initial donation because the demand from election administrators was
"much greater"
than expected, said Mark Zuckerbeg, whose personal fortune is estimated by
Forbes
magazine
to be slightly more. of $ 100 billion.
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"Many complaints"
have been filed to try to block the billionaire's payments to the association that manages this money, the Center for Tech and Civic Life,
"on the grounds that the organizations receiving the donations have political objectives"
, regrets Mark Zuckerbeg.
"It's wrong."
The funds, he assures,
"are distributed by non-partisan organizations"
from urban and rural jurisdictions, many of which come from districts with fewer than 25,000 voters.
“To be clear, I agree with those who say the government should have provided these funds, not private citizens,”
writes Mark Zuckerberg.
But otherwise,
"I think it is essential to respond to this urgent need"
.
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His group has for months been stepping up efforts not to repeat the trauma of 2016, when the network was used for massive voter manipulation operations, carried out from Russia, during the presidential elections in the United States and on Brexit in the United States. UK.
