Gem State Wire

The American Principles Project has issued a harsh criticism of Idaho secretary of state candidate Phil McGrane over concerns regarding election integrity.

APP's Election Transparency Initiative criticized McGrane over his previous acceptance of "Zuckerbucks" private election funding and it has raised concerns over his commitment to secure Idaho elections.

"Idaho’s next secretary of state should support both making it easier to vote and harder to cheat in our elections, so that voters can be confident in the outcome whether their preferred candidate succeeds or not," the project's president, Terry Schilling, said in a statement.

On May 13, the Election Transparency Initiative (ETI), a project of the American Principles Project, issued a press release questioning McGrane's commitment to election integrity, highlighting the fact that he previously accepted private election funding originating from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. ETI also claims that McGrane does not fully support requiring to submit voter registration applications at least 30 days before voting starts to "allow adequate time to verify registrant information," the news release said.

“When billionaire Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wanted to control our elections to benefit Democrats and stop [former President] Donald Trump, Phil McGrane happily took his money even though ‘Zuckerbucks’ were designed to harm Republicans," Schilling said in his statement. "Although he has continued to publicly defend his actions, we’re encouraged that McGrane has now pledged to reject such corrupt funds for local Idaho elections, and we thank him for his detailed discussion on these important issues. Make no mistake, Idaho voters should control their elections, not Big Tech billionaires.”

McGrane is the county clerk for Ada County in Idaho, according to Ballotpedia. He took office in 2019.

The use of private funding for elections has been a source of hot debate since the 2020 election. According to data compiled by the Capital Research Center, a nonprofit organization called the Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL) was given $350 million by Zuckerberg in advance of the 2020 presidential election. CTCL would go on to grant virtually all $350 million to hundreds of local election officials across the country.                

ETI's press release compares McGrane's positions on the issue to those of his opponents, which include Dorothy Moon and Mary Souza. The release says McGrane holds different positions than Moon and Souza and calls his stances the "weakest on election integrity."