Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election with narrow margins in Arizona, 0.31 percent or 10,457 votes; Georgia, 0.24 percent or 11,779 votes; Michigan, 2.78 percent or 154,188 votes; Nevada, 2.39 percent or 33,596 votes; Pennsylvania, 1.26 percent or 80,555 votes; and Wisconsin, 0.38 percent or 20,608 votes. Donald Trump won North Carolina by 1.34 percent or 74,483 votes. Democrats know from their battle-tested research how much their questionable get-out-the-vote (GOTV) events will cost per voter and how many more votes they will bring. Since the Democrats’ ground game is stronger this year than 2020, there is a good chance the purple state turnout will be higher for Democrats voting in the Nov. 5, 2024, presidential election.
When We All Vote (WWAV) is one of Democrats’ largest efforts to buy votes. WWAV started its early voting festivals shortly after the organization began in 2016. WWAV is an initiative of Civic Nation, which was founded by former First Lady Michelle Obama and 13 former members of the Obama White House. Because of Michelle Obama’s hatred for Trump, WWAV’s initial 2016 goal was to defeat Trump. Civic Nation quickly developed into America’s most powerful political organization, eclipsing both the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee with the number of voter contacts and direct efforts to persuade electors to register and vote.
Buying Votes — The Democrat Way
WWAV plans to sponsor 516 Party at the Polls (PATP) in the seven swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. WWAV is scheduling its parties when early voting sites are open and on Election Day. Each PATP is as close to early swing-state voting sites and polling places as possible. WWAV requires each PATP host to provide food, beverages, and entertainment to all PATP attendees. In 2022, WWAV granted community groups $2,500 per party and volunteer hosts $250 per party.
Democrats have had other vote-buying schemes. In 2020, “Native American voter advocacy groups in Nevada handed out gift cards, electronics, clothing, and other items to voters in tribal areas, in many cases documenting the exchange of ballots for ‘prizes’ on their own Facebook pages, sometimes even while wearing official Joe Biden campaign gear,” as The Federalist reported.
Is This Legal?
Now is the time for state and U.S. attorneys general to investigate and explain whether or not PATP are lawful. One Green Bay Wisconsin district attorney scared off the organizers of voting festivals that promised food, an open bar, and prizes.
Any time a federal candidate’s name is on the ballot, federal election bribery laws apply — 18 U.S.C. § 597(c) and 52 U.S.C. § 10307(c) prohibit any expenditure to incentivize citizens to register or vote. The Federal Prosecution of Election Crimes provides, “The bribe may be anything having monetary value, including cash, liquor, lottery chances, and welfare benefits such as food stamps.” WWAV’s expenditures for food, beverages, entertainment, etc., to increase the Democrats’ votes in swing states is a classic example of vote buying by providing voters with items of value to vote.
PATP does not require attendees to show proof they voted in order to get food and drinks at their events; nonetheless, the most damning evidence comes from WWAV’s own studies. Election festival research from 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022 is self-incriminating. Studies identify costs of $32 to $85 per vote and increases in the number of voters between 2.0 percent and 3.5 percent per event. Because early voting goes on for weeks, WWAV may host multiple PATP at one early voting site. Note to WWAV: when you buy votes, it’s a good idea to not publish your research that advertises the amount of money you paid per vote.
WWAV has the free speech right to bombard electors with phone calls, texts, emails, and door-to-door visits to convey its message of go vote. PATP are unlawful because WWAV’s food, beverages, and entertainment expenses are completely unnecessary and unrelated to WWAV’s message to vote.
Depending on the state, electioneering is allowed from 10 to 150 feet outside swing state polling places. WWAV believes that its PATP are lawful because PATP are located where states allow electioneering. But vote buying is not electioneering. State and federal election bribery laws do not take the location of the vote buying into account. Election bribery is election bribery regardless of where it happens.
WWAV also claims its PATP are legal because its PATP are “nonpartisan.” Again, the law says differently. Election bribery laws do not take political party into consideration for the determination of vote-buying crimes. Election bribery violations are election bribery violations, regardless of the political affiliations of the people and organizations offering election bribes or the political affiliations of the voters who accept election bribes.
Vote Buying in Ariz., Ga., Mich., Nev., N.C., and Wis.
The key to understanding how WWAV seeks to flip Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin blue is in the table below. I’ll use my home state of Wisconsin to explain WWAV’s vote-buying scheme.
WWAV plans to hold 11 PATP in Milwaukee County and 11 PATP in Dane County. In 2020, Biden-Harris racked up a 364,430-vote lead just from the votes in Milwaukee and Dane counties (183,045 Milwaukee County votes and 181,385 Dane County votes). Biden-Harris won Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes by 0.38 percent or 20,608 votes.
Of the 26 Wisconsin PATP, 22 are in Dane and Milwaukee counties. WWAV is concentrating its PATP in Dane and Milwaukee counties because this is where the Democrats will receive nearly three times more votes than Republicans. If the Democrats win Dane and Milwaukee counties by 364,000 votes like they did in 2020, and barring the GOP making a similar effort in a Republican stronghold, they will most likely win the state of Wisconsin’s electoral votes.
Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., stated, “Zuckerberg quietly flooded the 2020 election with hundreds of millions [of dollars] and 92 percent of it went to Democrat districts.” Instead of spending 92 percent, WWAV is investing 100 percent of its PATP money in the most heavily Democratic swing state counties.
As with Wisconsin, WWAV is using PATP to target Democrat voters in the remaining swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. In 2020, Wayne County, Michigan, provided Biden-Harris with an enormous lead, beating Trump-Pence by 332,617 votes. WWAV has 59 PATP scheduled in Wayne County’s Democrat stronghold to support the Harris-Walz ticket. Simple math. If Harris-Walz achieve a 333,000 Wayne County vote lead like the last presidential election (again, assuming the GOP efforts don’t compare), odds favor Harris-Walz receiving Michigan’s 15 electoral votes.
The 2020 Biden-Harris ticket had a 90,922-vote lead in Clark County, Nevada. Washoe County with a margin of 11,328 votes is the only other Nevada county Biden-Harris won. In 2024, WWAV has scheduled 49 PATP in the most Democratic-leaning sections of Clark County. WWAV is planning to hold seven PATP in Washoe County. Biden-Harris bested Trump-Pence statewide in Nevada by 33,596 votes, or 2.39 percent, in 2020. Of the 57 Nevada PATP, 56 are in Clark and Washoe counties. A 102,000-vote lead for Harris-Walz in Clark and Washoe counties will most likely garner Harris-Walz Nevada’s 6 electoral votes.
In the 2020 Georgia presidential election, Biden-Harris beat Trump-Pence in DeKalb and Fulton counties by 249,854 and 243,904 votes, respectively. DeKalb and Fulton counties provided Biden-Harris with a massive 493,758-vote lead in Georgia. WWAV will hold 13 PATP in DeKalb County and 23 PATP in Fulton County. Recall Trump lost Georgia by 0.24 percent or 11,779 votes in 2020. If Harris-Walz win as big in DeKalb and Fulton counties as Biden-Harris did in 2020, Harris-Walz will probably win Georgia’s 16 electoral votes.
Conclusion
In 2020, WWAV hosted its PATP without anyone alleging WWAV was buying PATP attendees’ votes with food, beverages, and entertainment before the election. Recently I filed election complaints against WWAV in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and my home state of Wisconsin. I could not file a Pennsylvania election complaint because Pennsylvania only allows registered Pennsylvania voters to file complaints. Because each state has its own election bribery or vote buying law, I filed separate state complaints.
Hue and cry is when bystanders are summoned to assist in the apprehension of a criminal after witnesses observed a crime. How unfortunate that PATP may decide who wins the 2024 presidential election unless a public outcry stops them. Share this article and information with your friends and increase the volume for the PATP hue and cry. Maybe, just maybe, one brave attorney general will declare PATP unlawful and then other attorney generals will realize that PATP is vote buying, plain and simple.