Gov Noem Signs Law Banning “Zuck Bucks” While Further Protecting South Dakota Elections

Governor Kristi Noem has been a true warrior for liberty since the beginning of 2020 and she hasn’t stopped. In this legislative session, Noem signed into law SB 122 which has been dubbed the “Ban on Zuck Bucks” bill.

According to SB 122, this is “an Act to prohibit private funding of election costs except for gifts of a nominal and intrinsic value.” The bill never mentions Mark Zuckerberg, but the legislation is definitely related to events that purportedly took place in 2020.

Governor Noem had this to say “In 2020, we saw Mark Zuckerberg pour ‘Zuck Bucks’ into local election operations across the country. Elections should be funded by the government, and we will not risk creating avenues for big-tech billionaires to unfairly influence our free and open elections,” said Governor Noem. “We take election integrity very seriously in South Dakota. We already have some of the strongest election laws on the books, and this legislation will make them even stronger.”

In 2020, we saw Mark Zuckerberg pour ‘Zuck Bucks’ into local election operations across the country. We are banning this in SD. We take election integrity seriously. We already have some of the strongest election laws on the books, and this legislation makes them even stronger. pic.twitter.com/sDpH9GG6TM

— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) March 16, 2022

The bill was designed to add a layer of protection to the South Dakota election process to ensure that outside money doesn’t taint the integrity of the democratic process. The bill never makes any mention of any 2020 election results, rather it discusses adding protective measures to make sure every election is by the books. The goal is to ensure that outside money from private corporations cannot interfere with the election process in any way.

According to the bill, “Neither the state nor any political subdivision may accept any funds, grants, or gifts for election costs from any source other than the governing body of a political subdivision, the state, or the federal government, except for gifts of a nominal and intrinsic value as defined by the State Board of Elections and given in compliance with the provisions of § 12-18-3.”

After signing the bill into law, Governor Noem turned to members of the legislature to say, “Congratulations, it’s a good day in South Dakota.” “In South Dakota, we recognize the important work of protecting our election laws,” “that we don’t want outside private dollars influencing that, and it’s incredibly important that we pass laws like this to make sure that that’s upheld.”