The Fair Election Fund (FEF), a national election integrity watchdog group, today released a new report revealing how liberal organizations funded by billionaires John and Laura Arnold have mobilized to block President Trump’s executive order aimed at ensuring only eligible American citizens cast ballots in federal elections.

FEF’s research has found that Arnold-backed groups have received over $15 million from John and Laura Arnold, who publicly champion themselves as “bipartisan” philanthropists, and are now leading the legal charge to prevent the federal government from enforcing basic voter eligibility standards, including blocking the United States Postal Service from sending ballots only to verified, eligible voters.

Among the report’s findings:

• The ACLU received between $5 million and $9.99 million from the Arnolds, which filed suit against President Trump’s voter integrity executive order in April 2026 and moved to block the United States Postal Service from sending ballots only to verified, eligible voters.

• The Brookings Institution received more than $5.7 million from the Arnolds, which published multiple pieces on President Trump’s election integrity executive orders stating that they threaten “to undermine American elections” and are “a serious overreach of executive authority.”

• The Bipartisan Policy Center received more than $2.25 million from the Arnolds, which has used its so-called “bipartisan” credibility as cover to oppose key components of the president’s election integrity agenda through reports and public comments.

• The Center for American Progress received more than $1.5 million from the Arnolds. CAP is a liberal organization run by a former Obama and Biden administration aide that has repeatedly attacked President Trump’s voter integrity efforts, stating his EO “would be nothing but another escalation in his anti-democratic attempts to spread disinformation about the security of American elections, deny people their right to vote, and sabotage election results to lock in his political power.”  

• Brennan Center for Justice received more than $1.6 million from the Arnolds, which joined the ACLU’s April 2026 lawsuit against President Trump’s executive order and has publicly declared that “Trump is waging war on our elections.”

BACKGROUND:

• FEF released a report in August finding that the “bipartisan” Arnold philanthropists bankroll the fight against voter ID and the SAVE Act.
• FEF released a report in July uncovering how the Arnold Foundation secretly funneled $20M to the Democrat election machine.
• In June, FEF commended House Oversight Chairman Comer and the committee for investigating Norm Eisen’s pay-to-play scheme, calling it “deeply troubling.”
• In April, FEF called attention to a report revealing ActBlue potentially misled Congress on foreign donation vetting, corroborating FEF’s own 2024 findings of potential cases of donor fraud within ActBlue.
• Last year, FEF launched a report series grading election administration officials in battleground states across the U.S.
• In 2024, the Fair Election Fund launched an investigation examining the jury summons responses and voter rolls in key swing state counties to identify voter fraud.
• In August of 2024, the Fair Election Fund uncovered 60,000 potential cases of donor fraud involving the Biden-Harris campaign and ActBlue and turned over the data to Republican attorneys general across the country.

The Fair Election Fund is an election watchdog group that was formed to shine a light on fraud and abuse still occurring in our election system

The post Exposed: Liberal Dark Money Billionaires Fund Groups Rush to Courts to Block Trump’s Voter Integrity Efforts appeared first on Fair Election Fund.

The brief takes no position on the merits of the proposed amendment.

In 2022, the Court twice declined to let a procedural technicality keep a petition off the ballot. One of those petitions belonged to Promote the Vote, which is now on the other side of this case. The Fair Election Fund’s position is that a principle protecting one petition but not the next is not a principle at all, and that the Court should consistently applies rules and the law.

709,841 Michigan residents signed the petition. The Bureau of Elections examined 1,000 of those signatures, roughly fourteen hundredths of one percent, and projected the petition at 97.4 percent of the signatures required — a result inside the Bureau’s own stated margin of error. The Board of State Canvassers deadlocked and declined to certify, leaving the petition three signatures short in a sample of one thousand.

The brief argues that a result this close should not be treated as final without a confirmatory step. For example, California requires a full check of every signature filed when a sample projects results in this range. Colorado requires a line by line count. Michigan itself built additional verification into its process until it scaled those safeguards back in 2023.

The brief also addresses the Board’s rejection of sworn statements from individual voters. Voters whose signatures had been questioned based upon the secret database submitted notarized affidavits confirming the signatures were their own. The Board refused to defer to the sworn affidavits.  The Fair Election Fund’s view is that setting aside sworn testimony, verified by a notary, on the basis of secret handwriting analysis is a significant step and inappropriate for the Board.

The Fair Election Fund recently published a series of state by state reports evaluating how state election officials administer elections, using a framework drawn from the recommendations of the bipartisan Carter-Baker Commission. In April of 2025, it issued findings critical of Michigan’s election administration. Its interest in this case is the process rather than the proposal, and its criticism of how Michigan runs its elections has never depended on which party or which initiative stood to benefit.

The Fair Election Fund is a watchdog group that was formed to shine a light on fraud and abuse still occurring in our election system.

The post Fair Election Fund to Michigan Supreme Court: The Same Rule Should Apply to Every Petition appeared first on Fair Election Fund.

The Fair Election Fund (FEF), a national election integrity watchdog group, announced the launch of a new six-figure advertising campaign calling on the Michigan Board of Canvassers to protect democracy and allow a citizen voting initiative to appear on the November ballot. This comes as more than 700,000 Michiganders signed a petition supporting the ballot measure. 

The campaign comes as Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced charges against five noncitizens for election crimes in 2024, and a review by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson confirmed that 15 noncitizens cast ballots in the 2024 presidential election. 

FEF’s six-figure campaign is running statewide in Michigan on Monday, August 24th, and is calling the Board to act with integrity immediately and put the citizen voting petition on the November ballot. 

The ad reads: “700,000 voices are on the line. The Board of Canvassers must act with integrity. Protect democracy. Certify the citizen voting petition. Put it on the ballot.”

BACKGROUND:

• FEF recently released a report detailing research behind the campaign against the SAVE America Act. 
• Last year, FEF launched a report series grading election administration officials in battleground states across the U.S.

The Fair Election Fund is an election watchdog group that was formed to shine a light on fraud and abuse still occurring in our election system.

The post Fair Election Fund Launches Six-Figure Campaign Urging Michigan Board of Canvassers to Protect Democracy and Certify Citizen Voting Petition appeared first on Fair Election Fund.

The Fair Election Fund (FEF), a nonpartisan national election integrity watchdog group, today released a new report exposing how left-wing billionaires Laura and John Arnold, who call themselves “bipartisan” philanthropists, have quietly funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to liberal political organizations with one shared goal: electing Democrats and flipping Congress ahead of the 2026 midterms.

FEF has uncovered reports that the Arnolds have funneled over $1.2 million through affiliates like Action Now, Inc., a 501(c)(4) founded by the Arnolds and a part of Arnold Ventures, in 2025, the year President Trump began his second term.

Among the report’s findings:

• Arnold Ventures, through affiliates, gave $400,000 to FWD.us, which has functioned as a revolving door for Democratic elected officials attacking the President. Arnold-funded FWD.us hosted events exclusively featuring Democratic members of Congress, including appearances alongside House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Democratic Whip Katherine Clark.

• Arnold Ventures, through affiliates, gave nearly $240,000 to the Progressive State Leaders Committee, whose homepage declares “Progressive AGs are fighting the Trump administration’s illegal actions” and operates a tracker documenting the 124 lawsuits Democratic AGs have filed against the Trump administration.

• Arnold Ventures, through affiliates, gave $250,000 to EDF Action, which this cycle launched a six-figure ad campaign directly targeting three House Republicans for their votes on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, while honoring a Democratic congresswoman with a campaign award.

• Arnold Ventures, through affiliates, gave $100,000 to Take Action Minnesota, which is actively working to elect Democrats up and down the Minnesota ballot, including Rep. Ilhan Omar and U.S. Senate candidate Peggy Flanagan.

• Arnold Ventures, through affiliates, gave over $250,000 to Third Way, which its own president described as leading “an expansive and expensive plan” to shape the next presidential campaign, explicitly focused on “flipping red and purple places blue.”

BACKGROUND:

• FEF released a report earlier in August finding that the “bipartisan” Arnold philanthropists bankroll the fight against voter ID and the SAVE Act.
• FEF released a report in July uncovering how the Arnold Foundation secretly funneled $20M to the Democrat election machine.
• In June, FEF commended House Oversight Chairman Comer and the committee for investigating Norm Eisen’s pay-to-play scheme, calling it “deeply troubling.”
• In April, FEF called attention to a report revealing ActBlue potentially misled Congress on foreign donation vetting, corroborating FEF’s own 2024 findings of potential cases of donor fraud within ActBlue.
• Last year, FEF launched a report series grading election administration officials in battleground states across the U.S.
• In 2024, the Fair Election Fund launched an investigation examining the jury summons responses and voter rolls in key swing state counties to identify voter fraud.
• In August of 2024, the Fair Election Fund uncovered 60,000 potential cases of donor fraud involving the Biden-Harris campaign and ActBlue and turned over the data to Republican attorneys general across the country.

The Fair Election Fund is an election watchdog group that was formed to shine a light on fraud and abuse still occurring in our election system.

The post New Report: Self-Described “Bipartisan” Billionaires are Bankrolling the Democratic Push to Flip Congress appeared first on Fair Election Fund.

New Report Finds Over $22 Million from the Arnolds Flowing to Groups Working to Kill the SAVE America Act and Block President Trump’s Election Integrity Agenda

The Fair Election Fund (FEF), an election integrity watchdog group, today released a new report revealing that billionaires Laura and John Arnold, who have spent years cultivating an image of bipartisan philanthropy, have quietly directed over $22 million to organizations actively working to defeat the SAVE America Act and block President Trump’s election integrity agenda ahead of the 2026 midterms.

This comes as 83% of Americans support requiring voters to show identification and prove their citizenship, and the Arnolds are funding the campaign against it. FEF’s report identifies instances where Arnold-funded groups have campaigned against voter identification laws or the SAVE America Act.

Among the report’s findings:

The Arnolds gave between $5 million and $9.99 million to the ACLU. In June 2026, the ACLU launched a $24.5 million lobbying campaign to block proof-of-citizenship voting requirements. The ACLU has called voter identification a “dangerous assault on democracy” and is operating an active petition and phone switchboard to pressure members of Congress into opposing voter ID laws.

The Arnolds gave more than $2.25 million to the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC). BPC released a research report in March 2026 arguing many Americans lack access to ID, followed by a July 2026 policy brief for lawmakers downplaying the risks of noncitizen voting.

The Arnolds gave at least $5.7 million to the Brookings Institution, which has characterized the SAVE Act as “an attempt to restrict voting rights” that would “disenfranchise approximately 60 million rural voters.” 

The Arnolds gave more than $1.5 million to the Center for American Progress, which has published a steady stream of reports calling the SAVE America Act “extreme” and arguing the administration “seems intent on manipulating election rules.” CAP is leading petition efforts urging individuals to contact Congress and block the SAVE Act.

The Arnolds gave between $5 million and $9.99 million to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which has signed onto multiple coalition letters opposing voter identification requirements and called proof-of-citizenship requirements “voter suppression.” 

BACKGROUND:

• FEF released a report in July uncovering the Arnold Foundation secretly funneled $20M to the Democrat election machine.
• In June, FEF commended House Oversight Chairman Comer and the committee for investigating Norm Eisen’s pay-to-play scheme, calling it “deeply troubling.”
• In April, called attention to a report revealing ActBlue potentially misled Congress on foreign donation vetting, corroborating FEF’s own 2024 findings of potential cases of donor fraud within ActBlue.
• Last year, FEF launched a report series grading election administration officials in battleground states across the U.S.
• In 2024, the Fair Election Fund launched an investigation examining the jury summons responses and voter rolls in key swing state counties to identify voter fraud.
• In August of 2024, the Fair Election Fund uncovered 60,000 potential cases of donor fraud involving the Biden-Harris campaign and ActBlue and turned over the data to Republican attorneys general across the country.
• In June 2024, FEF awarded $50,000 in bounties to whistleblowers with first-hand knowledge of voter fraud or election administration issues in Michigan, Connecticut, Georgia, and North Carolina.

The Fair Election Fund is an election watchdog group that was formed to shine a light on fraud and abuse still occurring in our election system.

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The Fair Election Fund (FEF), an election integrity watchdog group, today released a new report taking a closer look at Arnold Ventures, a “bipartisan” philanthropy, and their quiet election influence operation that poured over $20 million into organizations actively working to elect Democrats, flip Congress, and pave the way for another impeachment of President Trump.

Founded by registered Democrats John and Laura Arnold, who have donated billions of dollars to leftist causes, Arnold Ventures describes itself as a “bipartisan” philanthropy advocating for “evidence-based” policy solutions. In this new report, FEF found that Arnold Ventures is supporting left-leaning organizations working to elect Democrats, undermining the very bipartisan credibility that Arnold Ventures claims. 

The report tracks Arnold Ventures’ giving to four left-leaning groups, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Center for American Progress, Vera Institute of Justice, and Brookings Institution, each of which has a documented record of electoral activity that overwhelmingly benefits Democratic candidates and causes.

Among the report’s findings:

Arnold Ventures gave over $5 million directly to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which has endorsed dozens of Democrats in key congressional races and has not endorsed a single Republican. The Action Fund has already committed $3.5 million to defeat House Republicans in swing districts that could determine who holds the Speakership. Arnold Ventures also personally donated over $100,000 to Planned Parenthood Texas Votes as part of an effort to turn Texas blue.

Arnold Ventures gave over $1.5 million to the Center for American Progress, which used those dollars to promote Rep. Katherine Clark, a Democrat who has called President Trump a “traitor” and demanded his impeachment. CAP employees gave 100% of their $147,332 in 2024 contributions to Democrats.

Arnold Ventures gave over $13 million to the Vera Institute of Justice, whose political arm is running a direct midterm election operation to stop President Trump’s law and order agenda. Vera’s director presented at the DNC on how Democrats can win the crime debate. In May 2026, Vera launched a midterm campaign with Dream.org to combat Trump’s public safety legislation. Vera employees gave 100% of their $14,000 in 2024 political donations to Democrats.

Arnold Ventures gave over $5.7 million to the Brookings Institution, which has functioned as a campaign platform for Democratic lawmakers this election cycle. Brookings hosted Reps. Maxwell Frost, Adam Schiff, and Sen. Jeff Merkley at events this year. Also noteworthy, Brookings employees gave 100% of their $243,585 in 2024 political contributions to Democratic candidates.

BACKGROUND:

• In June, FEF commended House Oversight Chairman Comer and the committee for investigating Norm Eisen’s pay-to-play scheme, calling it “deeply troubling.”
• In April, called attention to a report revealing ActBlue potentially misled Congress on foreign donation vetting, corroborating FEF’s own 2024 findings of potential cases of donor fraud within ActBlue.
• Last year, FEF launched a report series grading election administration officials in battleground states across the U.S.
• In 2024, the Fair Election Fund launched an investigation examining the jury summons responses and voter rolls in key swing state counties to identify voter fraud.
• In August of 2024, the Fair Election Fund uncovered 60,000 potential cases of donor fraud involving the Biden-Harris campaign and ActBlue and turned over the data to Republican attorneys general across the country.
• In June 2024, FEF awarded $50,000 in bounties to whistleblowers with first-hand knowledge of voter fraud or election administration issues in Michigan, Connecticut, Georgia, and North Carolina.

The Fair Election Fund is an election watchdog group that was formed to shine a light on fraud and abuse still occurring in our election system.

The post FEF Report Uncovers Self-Described ‘Bipartisan’ Group Secretly Funneled $20M to Democrat Election Machine appeared first on Fair Election Fund.

The Oversight Committee raised serious concerns that Eisen’s organization has been running a pay-to-play operation, exploiting its tax-exempt charitable status to reward donors while conducting political lobbying that far exceeds what the law allows. This latest inquiry is part of a sweeping congressional investigation into IRS failures to enforce the rules governing 501(c)(3) entities, which dates back to 2024.

Fair Election Fund released the following statement:

“The House Oversight Committee’s investigation reveals a deeply troubling pattern: a tax-exempt organization weaponizing its charitable status to enrich its own donors rather than serving any legitimate public purpose. That is not advocacy; it’s a shakedown dressed up as charity, and it is an abuse of the tax code.

Organizations that exploit nonprofit status for political and financial gain undermine public trust in our institutions. We commend Chairman Comer for his continued oversight and urge swift action from the IRS.”

BACKGROUND:

• In April, called attention to a report revealing ActBlue potentially misled Congress on foreign donation vetting, corroborating FEF’s own 2024 findings of potential cases of donor fraud within ActBlue.
• Last year, FEF launched a report series grading election administration officials in battleground states across the U.S.
• In 2024, the Fair Election Fund launched an investigation examining the jury summons responses and voter rolls in key swing state counties to identify voter fraud.
• In August of 2024, the Fair Election Fund uncovered 60,000 potential cases of donor fraud involving the Biden-Harris campaign and ActBlue and turned over the data to Republican attorneys general across the country.
• In June 2024, FEF awarded $50,000 in bounties to whistleblowers with first-hand knowledge of voter fraud or election administration issues in Michigan, Connecticut, Georgia, and North Carolina.

The Fair Election Fund is a watchdog group that was formed to shine a light on fraud and abuse still occurring in our election system.

The post Election Watchdog Group Calls Norm Eisen’s Pay-to-Play Scheme “Deeply Troubling,” Demands IRS Action appeared first on Fair Election Fund.

New York Times Report Confirms More Fraud Concerns From Democrat Money Machine

The Fair Election Fund (FEF), a nonpartisan national election integrity watchdog group, is calling attention to bombshell reporting revealing ActBlue potentially misled Congress on foreign donation vetting, corroborating FEF’s own 2024 findings of potential cases of donor fraud within ActBlue.

According to the New York Times, ActBlue is now facing investigations from the Justice Department and congressional Republicans over potential illegal foreign donations. 

In August 2024, FEF announced findings in its initial investigation into ActBlue and the Biden-Harris campaign, uncovering over 60,000 potential cases of donor fraud. Instances where individuals listed as small-dollar donors on FEC reports had no recollection of making those donations. FEF spent $250,000 to obtain and verify its leads and immediately turned over hundreds of verified cases to Republican Attorneys General across the country, including in Alabama, Nebraska, Kansas, Virginia, and Texas.

BACKGROUND:

• Last year, FEF launched a report series grading election administration officials in battleground states across the U.S.
• In 2024, the Fair Election Fund launched an investigation examining the jury summons responses and voter rolls in key swing state counties to identify voter fraud. 
• In August of 2024, the Fair Election Fund uncovered 60,000 potential cases of donor fraud involving the Biden-Harris campaign and ActBlue and turned over the data to Republican attorneys general across the country. 
• In June 2024, FEF awarded $50,000 in bounties to whistleblowers with first-hand knowledge of voter fraud or election administration issues in Michigan, Connecticut, Georgia, and North Carolina.

The Fair Election Fund is a watchdog group that was formed to shine a light on fraud and abuse still occurring in our election system.

The post Shocking Revelation in ActBlue Donor Fraud Investigation Reinforces Findings from Previous Fair Election Fund Report appeared first on Fair Election Fund.

FEF’s investigation uncovered numerous statewide issues and infringements of the Elections Procedure Manual (EPM), which is intended to ensure consistent and efficient election practices across the state. Secretary Fontes was found to be weakening safeguards against noncitizen voting, improperly handling voter rolls, and undermining voter security.

Offenses include:

• Unauthorized unstaffed drop boxes
  • Fontes’ 2023 EPM created a fifth, illegal method for returning early ballots, unstaffed drop boxes not allowed under Arizona law.
• Delayed election results 
  • Chronic slow ballot tabulation in major counties, especially Maricopa, over 290,000 “late early” ballots in 2022 caused weeks-long certification delays.
• Printer failures
  • In 2022, 70 of 223 Maricopa voting sites suffered on-demand printer malfunctions due to paper change, causing ballot rejections and long lines. The Secretary of State’s office failed to ensure proper pre-election testing.
• Inaccurate voter roll data
  • In 2024, around 218,000 voters were found to be missing citizenship documentation and on a private call, Arizona’s leaders, including Fontes, debated the ‘dire’ ballot dilemma.
  • A federal lawsuit claims that AZ’s list of registered voters contains up to 1.27 million voters who have either died or moved out of state, which violates the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).

Click here to read the full report.

BACKGROUND:

• In April, FEF launched a new initiative, grading election administration officials in battleground states across the U.S.
  • The first report card graded Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson a “D” for her failures to bring confidence to Michigan voters.
  • The second report evaluated the North Carolina Board of Elections (NCSBE), which received a “C” grade for its election administration.
  • FEF’s third report examined Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, who received a “D+” for shifting guidelines that hindered third-party candidate ballot access.
  • The fourth report reviewed the Wisconsin Elections Commission, which received a “D+” grade on its election administration processes.
  • FEF’s fifth report graded Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt a “C-”.
• In March, the Fair Election Fund filed commentary with the FCC on the issue raised against CBS for unlawful news distortion and coordination with the Harris 2024 Presidential Campaign in the network’s 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris last year.
• In August of 2024, the Fair Election Fund uncovered 60,000 potential cases of donor fraud involving the Biden-Harris campaign and ActBlue and turned over the data to Republican attorneys general across the country.
• Last year, the Fair Election Fund launched an investigation examining the jury summons responses and voter rolls in key swing state counties to identify voter fraud.

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