WI Voters Approve 'Zuckerbucks' And Poll Worker Proposals, AP Projects

UPDATE, 9:45 p.m. — Wisconsin voters on Tuesday approved the two statewide referendums related to elections, the Associated Press projects.

The polls for Wisconsin’s presidential primary and spring election are now closed.

Wisconsinites on Tuesday voted in the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries. But those contests, which are essentially over, will take a backseat to the two proposed constitutional amendments. The pair of Republican-backed statewide ballot measures would affect how elections are run.

Patch will update this article when results for the ballot measures are projected.

One proposal would bar the use of private grant money in administering elections.

The effort aims to curb the influence of what supporters of the measure have dubbed "Zuckerbucks," a reference to the time in 2020 when Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chang gave $300 million to the Center for Tech and Civic Life.

The second proposal would enshrine existing laws about who can be a poll worker into the Wisconsin state constitution.

Democrats, who are in the minority in the Wisconsin Legislature, failed in their attempts to block both ballot measures.

Opponents of the amendments include the American Civil Liberties Union, Common Cause Wisconsin, Wisconsin Conservation Voters and the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin.

The proposals are supported by Republicans and conservative groups, including the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty and Election Integrity for Wisconsin.

Reporting from the Associated Press was used in this story.