Bristol Reporter

In Somerset, where voting officials received funding from a Mark Zuckerberg-related organization, Democrat turnout increased 18.6% from 2016 to 2020, while Republican turnout increased by only 12%.

In 2020, Joe Biden secured 52% of 11,077 votes, compared to the 49% votes earned by Hillary Clinton in 2016. Grants to voting officials, funded almost entirely by Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, weren’t offered in 2016.

In Massachusetts, Democrat turnout rose 18.9% in areas which received the funding, while increasing 26.4% in areas which did not.

The Republican Party earned 7.7% more votes in Massachusetts districts assisted by the CTCL, compared to 1.2% in jurisdictions without similar funding.

Support for Trump increased in Somerset 0% in 2020.

There were 1,188 more votes cast in Somerset in the 2020 election than in 2016.

Somerset was one of 263 Massachusetts areas where voting officials received money from the progressive Centre for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL). A $350 million donation from Facebook founder Zuckerberg and his wife provided funding for the grants.

Grants from the organization, ranging from $5,000 to $19 million, were given to voting officials in exchange for specific conditions being followed. This included strategically targeting voters, creating ballots and developing what are known as “cure letters” to correct ballots at risk of being thrown out for discrepancies in signatures.

The influx of private money on such a large scale was criticized throughout the contentious 2020 election.

The CTCL was sued by Louisiana’s Attorney General in October 2021 “to prevent the injection of unregulated private money...and protect the integrity of elections in the State.” The lawsuit wasn’t allowed to proceed by a State judge.

Criticism of the CTCL also stemmed from favoring “predominantly Democratic counties” and even gave them a headstart to apply for funding, according to emails obtained through Right-to-Know requests.

“Mark Zuckerberg is providing nearly as much money to this year’s election administration as the federal government,” Phil Kline with the Amistad Project said in a late October 2020 press release.

The US government, in the run-up to the 2020 election, was criticized for underfunding the electoral process at a critical time.

Area	Received CTCL Funding?	% Change in Republican Support	% Change in Democratic Support
Abington	Yes	2.4	6.6
Acushnet	Yes	2.7	0.3
Alford	Yes	-2.4	6
Amherst	Yes	-1.3	-5
Andover	Yes	3.4	8
Aquinnah	Yes	0	4.1
Arlington	Yes	-2.3	6
Ashland	Yes	2.8	6.5
Athol	Yes	0.5	7.1
Attleboro	Yes	2.7	6.4
Auburn	Yes	1.1	6.5
Avon	Yes	-5.7	7.9
Ayer	Yes	4.5	9
Barnstable Town	Yes	3.5	7.3
Barre	Yes	1.9	6.6
Becket	Yes	2.1	6.5
Bedford	Yes	-3.4	8.5
Belchertown	Yes	2.7	7
Bellingham	Yes	1.5	7.1
Belmont	Yes	-2.8	5.5
Berkley	Yes	0.9	2.6
Berlin	Yes	2.9	8
Beverly	Yes	2.4	7.4
Billerica	Yes	3.6	8
Blackstone	Yes	1.8	6.7
Blandford	Yes	0.6	2.9
Bolton	Yes	1.7	8.9
Boston	Yes	1.5	1.3
Bourne	Yes	4.3	8.4
Boxborough	Yes	2.2	7.9
Boxford	Yes	2	8.2
Boylston	Yes	0.4	5.9
Braintree Town	Yes	1.7	5.9
Brewster	Yes	-4.4	8.8
Bridgewater	Yes	3.6	8.3
Brookline	Yes	0.1	2.7
Buckland	Yes	0.2	5.4
Burlington	Yes	2.8	6.7
Cambridge	Yes	0	2.4
Canton	Yes	2.6	6.7
Carver	Yes	1.1	6.6
Charlton	Yes	3.2	8.4
Chatham	Yes	3.7	8.1
Chelmsford	Yes	3.3	8.7
Chelsea	Yes	4.1	2.6
Chester	Yes	0.2	6.6
Chesterfield	Yes	2.4	6.6
Chicopee	Yes	0	4.5
Chilmark	Yes	0.4	4.7
Colrain	Yes	0.3	5
Concord	Yes	1.5	5.4
Conway	Yes	0.5	3.4
Danvers	Yes	2.7	7.5
Dedham	Yes	-3.3	7.7
Deerfield	Yes	1	6.5
Dennis	Yes	2.7	6.7
Dracut	Yes	3.1	6.9
Dudley	Yes	1.2	5.7
Duxbury	Yes	3.5	9.5
East Bridgewater	Yes	2.2	7.3
East Brookfield	Yes	1.8	8.3
East Longmeadow	Yes	3	7.6
Eastham	Yes	-5.2	8.8
Easthampton Town	Yes	-3.8	7.8
Easton	Yes	3.9	8
Edgartown	Yes	1.1	4.7
Egremont	Yes	0.3	3.6
Erving	Yes	0.4	6.3
Essex	Yes	2.1	9
Everett	Yes	0.6	3.1
Fairhaven	Yes	0.1	3.5
Fall River	Yes	6.3	-3.7
Fitchburg	Yes	0.8	3.6
Foxborough	Yes	2.9	8.5
Framingham	Yes	0.1	4.2
Franklin Town	Yes	2.6	8.6
Freetown	Yes	0.5	4.2
Gardner	Yes	0.2	6
Georgetown	Yes	1.8	7.7
Gill	Yes	0.1	5.9
Gloucester	Yes	2.2	6.5
Grafton	Yes	3.8	8.8
Granby	Yes	1.8	5.7
Granville	Yes	1.2	5
Great Barrington	Yes	0.1	2.5
Greenfield Town	Yes	1.2	6
Groton	Yes	2.9	8.5
Groveland	Yes	4.3	8.3
Hadley	Yes	0.8	3.3
Halifax	Yes	2.9	7.9
Hamilton	Yes	-2.7	10.7
Hancock	Yes	1.6	4.2
Hanover	Yes	2.9	7.3
Hanson	Yes	3	7.5
Hardwick	Yes	3.4	7.9
Harvard	Yes	1.1	6.1
Hatfield	Yes	2.2	6.3
Haverhill	Yes	2	6.5
Hawley	Yes	3.5	14.4
Heath	Yes	-3.6	7.7
Holliston	Yes	3.1	8.8
Holyoke	Yes	5.3	-2.4
Hopedale	Yes	3.5	9.3
Hopkinton	Yes	3.1	9.5
Hubbardston	Yes	2.1	8.8
Hudson	Yes	2.1	7.6
Hull	Yes	2.3	6.3
Ipswich	Yes	3.3	6.8
Kingston	Yes	3.1	7.1
Lakeville	Yes	1.9	6.5
Lancaster	Yes	2	8.9
Lanesborough	Yes	3.1	6.8
Lawrence	Yes	10.4	-8.9
Lee	Yes	-38.4	40.8
Leicester	Yes	0.6	5.8
Lenox	Yes	1.2	5.8
Leominster	Yes	2.2	6.9
Leverett	Yes	-3.2	5.9
Lexington	Yes	1.7	3.6
Leyden	Yes	1.7	1.4
Lincoln	Yes	0.1	4.7
Longmeadow	Yes	3.3	7.6
Lowell	Yes	2.8	1.3
Ludlow	Yes	0.1	4.2
Lunenburg	Yes	4	9.1
Lynn	Yes	1	1.9
Lynnfield	Yes	4.3	6.7
Marblehead	Yes	2.7	7.8
Marion	Yes	2.1	6.7
Marlborough	Yes	1.6	6.6
Maynard	Yes	3.3	8.4
Medford	Yes	-1.7	5.2
Medway	Yes	2.8	9
Melrose	Yes	-3.7	8
Mendon	Yes	3.5	8.7
Merrimac	Yes	3.1	8.6
Methuen Town	Yes	1.5	4.7
Middleborough	Yes	1.8	6.4
Middlefield	Yes	2.3	6.5
Middleton	Yes	1.4	5
Milford	Yes	0.8	5.1
Millbury	Yes	3.1	1.5
Millis	Yes	2.9	9
Milton	Yes	1.7	5.6
Monson	Yes	0.2	4.9
Montague	Yes	0.9	5
Monterey	Yes	0.7	3
Natick	Yes	2	6.6
Needham	Yes	2	6.5
New Bedford	Yes	5.7	2.6
New Braintree	Yes	4	6.7
New Marlborough	Yes	1.1	2.4
Newbury	Yes	3.2	7.7
Newburyport	Yes	44.6	-41.3
Newton	Yes	0	3.1
Norfolk	Yes	3.4	10.7
North Adams	Yes	0.7	5.4
North Andover	Yes	4.1	7.5
North Attleborough	Yes	3.9	9.5
North Brookfield	Yes	2.3	7.6
North Reading	Yes	3.2	8.3
Northampton	Yes	-1.3	3.5
Northborough	Yes	-3.4	9
Northbridge	Yes	2.7	9.2
Norton	Yes	2.2	7.3
Norwell	Yes	3.3	8.6
Norwood	Yes	2.8	7
Oakham	Yes	2	6.4
Orange	Yes	2	7.5
Oxford	Yes	2.3	7.6
Peabody	Yes	0.8	4.6
Pepperell	Yes	2.6	9
Peru	Yes	0.3	5.8
Petersham	Yes	2.2	8.4
Phillipston	Yes	0.7	5.3
Pittsfield	Yes	1.2	4.6
Plainfield	Yes	1	4.5
Plainville	Yes	3.3	9.3
Plymouth	Yes	3.8	8.7
Plympton	Yes	2.8	8.8
Princeton	Yes	2	6.8
Provincetown	Yes	-81.8	83.3
Randolph	Yes	0.2	2.5
Raynham	Yes	1.7	6.1
Reading	Yes	3	7.9
Rehoboth	Yes	1.3	5
Richmond	Yes	-2.2	5.5
Rockland	Yes	2.7	7.2
Rockport	Yes	-3.6	8.6
Rutland	Yes	1.8	7.6
Salem	Yes	-2.7	5.9
Salisbury	Yes	1.3	6.4
Sandisfield	Yes	1.4	5.6
Sandwich	Yes	3.4	7.3
Saugus	Yes	3.5	5.9
Scituate	Yes	3.8	8.3
Seekonk	Yes	2	6
Sharon	Yes	1.4	5.3
Sheffield	Yes	1.4	5.4
Shelburne	Yes	-2.5	6.6
Sherborn	Yes	-4	9.2
Shirley	Yes	2.3	8.1
Shrewsbury	Yes	2.9	7.8
Somerset	Yes	0	2.9
Somerville	Yes	0.2	3.1
South Hadley	Yes	-3.7	8.2
Southampton	Yes	2.1	6.6
Southborough	Yes	-4.1	10
Southbridge Town	Yes	3	9.4
Southwick	Yes	0.7	5.5
Spencer	Yes	1.9	7.1
Springfield	Yes	4.9	-2.4
Sterling	Yes	2.1	8.5
Sturbridge	Yes	3.5	9.2
Sudbury	Yes	1.7	6.4
Sunderland	Yes	1.4	6.2
Swampscott	Yes	-3.3	7.1
Swansea	Yes	1.1	2.1
Taunton	Yes	0.1	4.3
Templeton	Yes	11.8	-6.8
Tewksbury	Yes	2.9	8
Topsfield	Yes	0.7	6.5
Townsend	Yes	2.2	8.2
Tyngsborough	Yes	2.6	7.8
Upton	Yes	7.6	22.1
Uxbridge	Yes	1.3	7.3
Wales	Yes	1.8	2.9
Walpole	Yes	3.3	8.3
Waltham	Yes	1.9	4.9
Ware	Yes	0.3	5.5
Wareham	Yes	1.9	5.9
Warren	Yes	0.9	5.8
Wellesley	Yes	1.7	5.9
Wellfleet	Yes	-4	7
Wenham	Yes	-3	10.4
West Boylston	Yes	3.7	8.5
West Bridgewater	Yes	3.5	8.4
West Springfield Town	Yes	1	5.6
West Tisbury	Yes	0.7	4.8
Westborough	Yes	3	7.5
Westfield	Yes	0.5	5.4
Westford	Yes	-3.8	9.7
Westhampton	Yes	1.4	5.4
Westminster	Yes	1.3	6.9
Westport	Yes	0.3	2.1
Westwood	Yes	2.3	7.1
Whately	Yes	3.4	8
Whitman	Yes	0.1	5.5
Wilbraham	Yes	3.2	7.1
Williamsburg	Yes	-2.5	6.4
Wilmington	Yes	2.8	7.7
Winchendon	Yes	0.3	5.2
Winchester	Yes	2.3	6.9
Winthrop Town	Yes	-3.6	7
Woburn	Yes	3.2	6.6
Worcester	Yes	2.2	1.4
Worthington	Yes	0.7	5.9
Wrentham	Yes	2.5	8.5
Yarmouth	Yes	3.2	6.8
Tolland	Yes	-5.4	8.5
Nahant	Yes	-3.7	6.8
Nantucket County	No	3	7.7