North Boston News

In Boxford, where voting officials received funding from a Mark Zuckerberg-related organization, Democrat support rose 27% from 2016 to 2020.

In 2020, Joe Biden secured 56% of 5,520 votes, compared to the 48% earned by Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Support for Trump increased in Boxford 7.7% in 2020.

Boxford 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.

Democrat support across Massachusetts areas that received funding from the CTCL rose 18.9% in 2020 from 2016.

Such support rose 26.4% in Massachusetts areas that didn’t receive any funding from the CTCL.

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

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	5.5	26.6
Acushnet	Yes	16.1	11
Alford	Yes	-3.8	19.9
Amherst	Yes	-30.2	-13.4
Andover	Yes	2.6	29.2
Aquinnah	Yes	100	34.1
Arlington	Yes	-5.3	17.4
Ashland	Yes	6.1	28.6
Athol	Yes	10.4	30.3
Attleboro	Yes	8.2	29.9
Auburn	Yes	7.7	25
Avon	Yes	-3.6	27.7
Ayer	Yes	2.6	35.6
Barnstable Town	Yes	2.2	27
Barre	Yes	6.6	27.8
Becket	Yes	12.2	32.6
Bedford	Yes	-1.4	26.9
Belchertown	Yes	10.4	33.7
Bellingham	Yes	8.5	29.2
Belmont	Yes	-4.8	17
Berkley	Yes	18.7	24.3
Berlin	Yes	9.5	36.3
Beverly	Yes	4.4	26.7
Billerica	Yes	4	32
Blackstone	Yes	10	32.4
Blandford	Yes	12.1	19.9
Bolton	Yes	10	33.7
Boston	Yes	19.3	9.8
Bourne	Yes	2.5	32.9
Boxborough	Yes	4	27.1
Boxford	Yes	3.5	27
Boylston	Yes	17.2	31.8
Braintree Town	Yes	3.8	20.5
Brewster	Yes	-1.4	29.6
Bridgewater	Yes	5	34.5
Brookline	Yes	7.7	10.4
Buckland	Yes	16.5	26.5
Burlington	Yes	2.4	23.8
Cambridge	Yes	5.9	7.9
Canton	Yes	4.9	26.2
Carver	Yes	9.3	29.6
Charlton	Yes	7	38.8
Chatham	Yes	2.1	29.6
Chelmsford	Yes	2.1	29.9
Chelsea	Yes	39.6	8.7
Chester	Yes	11.6	31.5
Chesterfield	Yes	7.5	28.1
Chicopee	Yes	8.1	17.5
Chilmark	Yes	18.1	29
Colrain	Yes	19.1	30
Concord	Yes	1.3	18.5
Conway	Yes	11.6	14.3
Danvers	Yes	3.7	26.8
Dedham	Yes	-0.1	24.8
Deerfield	Yes	8	23.2
Dennis	Yes	5	26.5
Dracut	Yes	5.9	31
Dudley	Yes	11.2	29.9
Duxbury	Yes	3.7	34.5
East Bridgewater	Yes	7.2	31.8
East Brookfield	Yes	11.6	42.2
East Longmeadow	Yes	4.1	29.5
Eastham	Yes	-4	30
Easthampton Town	Yes	-2.8	25.5
Easton	Yes	4.5	32.9
Edgartown	Yes	9.6	22.3
Egremont	Yes	18.4	26.1
Erving	Yes	18.3	31
Essex	Yes	5	29.7
Everett	Yes	3.9	10.9
Fairhaven	Yes	11.8	19.4
Fall River	Yes	25.1	-0
Fitchburg	Yes	10.7	15.2
Foxborough	Yes	4.7	31.3
Framingham	Yes	9.2	15.1
Franklin Town	Yes	5	30.9
Freetown	Yes	9.7	22
Gardner	Yes	11.2	24.2
Georgetown	Yes	7.2	30
Gill	Yes	7.7	17.3
Gloucester	Yes	4.5	23.8
Grafton	Yes	3.3	32.9
Granby	Yes	6.8	24.5
Granville	Yes	3.1	20
Great Barrington	Yes	12.8	16.9
Greenfield Town	Yes	8	23.5
Groton	Yes	0.5	26.1
Groveland	Yes	2.2	32.9
Hadley	Yes	6.7	15.2
Halifax	Yes	3.7	31.2
Hamilton	Yes	-1.2	27.9
Hancock	Yes	30.2	36
Hanover	Yes	5.6	30.9
Hanson	Yes	6.1	33.4
Hardwick	Yes	3.4	31.9
Harvard	Yes	7.3	22.2
Hatfield	Yes	3.9	22.9
Haverhill	Yes	4.3	23.5
Hawley	Yes	4.5	47.6
Heath	Yes	-4.2	20.5
Holliston	Yes	0.6	28
Holyoke	Yes	20.4	-4.3
Hopedale	Yes	0.7	29.9
Hopkinton	Yes	2.4	31.5
Hubbardston	Yes	4.8	33.7
Hudson	Yes	2	23
Hull	Yes	3.3	22.2
Ipswich	Yes	3.2	27
Kingston	Yes	5.5	30.3
Lakeville	Yes	12	35.3
Lancaster	Yes	6.7	32.9
Lanesborough	Yes	1.2	23.9
Lawrence	Yes	64.2	-14.3
Lee	Yes	-50	183.5
Leicester	Yes	11.4	28
Lenox	Yes	5.2	20.9
Leominster	Yes	4.8	25.4
Leverett	Yes	-11.9	19.8
Lexington	Yes	1.8	17.3
Leyden	Yes	11.5	7.8
Lincoln	Yes	9.3	16.6
Longmeadow	Yes	1	25.8
Lowell	Yes	16.6	8.4
Ludlow	Yes	11.7	21.9
Lunenburg	Yes	4.8	36.9
Lynn	Yes	12	11.3
Lynnfield	Yes	3.7	30.1
Marblehead	Yes	0.8	24.9
Marion	Yes	7.3	27.3
Marlborough	Yes	2.4	19.2
Maynard	Yes	0.1	28
Medford	Yes	-1.4	13.6
Medway	Yes	1.9	28.6
Melrose	Yes	-3.8	23.6
Mendon	Yes	4.7	35.1
Merrimac	Yes	6.4	34.5
Methuen Town	Yes	8.7	22.9
Middleborough	Yes	8.8	30.7
Middlefield	Yes	7.8	28.4
Middleton	Yes	11.4	28
Milford	Yes	5.9	18
Millbury	Yes	21.8	18.2
Millis	Yes	5.9	33.7
Milton	Yes	3.6	19.6
Monson	Yes	14.6	27.3
Montague	Yes	10.6	23.2
Monterey	Yes	15.9	15.3
Natick	Yes	2.1	21.7
Needham	Yes	1.5	21.7
New Bedford	Yes	25.5	2.2
New Braintree	Yes	3.4	29.7
New Marlborough	Yes	21.1	20.2
Newbury	Yes	2.2	27.3
Newburyport	Yes	196.2	-56
Newton	Yes	7.6	12.2
Norfolk	Yes	4.6	38.7
North Adams	Yes	1.9	13
North Andover	Yes	2.5	29.7
North Attleborough	Yes	5	37.8
North Brookfield	Yes	3.3	30.2
North Reading	Yes	3.3	30.4
Northampton	Yes	-1.2	15.8
Northborough	Yes	-1.7	26.2
Northbridge	Yes	6.7	37.8
Norton	Yes	6.9	29.9
Norwell	Yes	2.9	30.9
Norwood	Yes	2.3	24.6
Oakham	Yes	4.9	27.4
Orange	Yes	9.6	33.4
Oxford	Yes	5.3	30.9
Peabody	Yes	5.6	17.1
Pepperell	Yes	3.5	32
Peru	Yes	4.3	17.3
Petersham	Yes	2.9	26.6
Phillipston	Yes	10.4	24.3
Pittsfield	Yes	5.2	18
Plainfield	Yes	8.4	20.2
Plainville	Yes	11.3	44.2
Plymouth	Yes	5.9	36.3
Plympton	Yes	3.3	32.3
Princeton	Yes	8.8	29.3
Provincetown	Yes	-91.3	1,054.8
Randolph	Yes	13.7	18.8
Raynham	Yes	11.5	31.4
Reading	Yes	1.3	25.8
Rehoboth	Yes	14	31.1
Revere	Yes	4.5	11.7
Richmond	Yes	-1.4	17.3
Rockland	Yes	0.1	22.6
Rockport	Yes	-4.7	23.7
Rutland	Yes	13.8	39.4
Salem	Yes	-0.5	20.6
Salisbury	Yes	15.5	35.6
Sandisfield	Yes	5.3	20.5
Sandwich	Yes	3.4	28.6
Saugus	Yes	3.3	25.3
Scituate	Yes	3.5	32.2
Seekonk	Yes	11.1	30.7
Sharon	Yes	6.4	21.6
Sheffield	Yes	9.1	24.2
Shelburne	Yes	-9.1	12.9
Sherborn	Yes	-6.2	28.4
Shirley	Yes	4.3	28.3
Shrewsbury	Yes	3.7	28
Somerset	Yes	12	18.6
Somerville	Yes	3.8	9.7
South Hadley	Yes	-0.7	26.5
Southampton	Yes	7	27.9
Southborough	Yes	-2.5	30.8
Southbridge Town	Yes	25.1	61
Southwick	Yes	8.8	26.9
Spencer	Yes	7.9	32
Springfield	Yes	24.3	-2.4
Sterling	Yes	5	31.4
Sturbridge	Yes	4.1	34.8
Sudbury	Yes	7.2	26.2
Sunderland	Yes	1.8	18.6
Swampscott	Yes	-1.2	23.2
Swansea	Yes	17.7	20.6
Taunton	Yes	11.8	21.3
Templeton	Yes	46.2	-1.9
Tewksbury	Yes	4.2	30.9
Topsfield	Yes	2.3	17.1
Townsend	Yes	2.7	29.1
Tyngsborough	Yes	6.6	31.8
Upton	Yes	9.4	38.2
Uxbridge	Yes	10.7	33.2
Wales	Yes	12.5	17.5
Walpole	Yes	3.3	30.3
Waltham	Yes	2.6	17.7
Ware	Yes	11.6	27
Wareham	Yes	8.1	26.6
Warren	Yes	8.6	27.1
Wellesley	Yes	1.9	19.5
Wellfleet	Yes	-3.7	26.8
Wenham	Yes	-1.2	28.7
West Boylston	Yes	1.8	30.5
West Bridgewater	Yes	5.7	37
West Springfield Town	Yes	9.6	25.3
West Tisbury	Yes	2.7	13.8
Westborough	Yes	0.9	25.7
Westfield	Yes	9.3	24
Westford	Yes	-1.1	30.2
Westhampton	Yes	4.4	18.6
Westminster	Yes	14.4	36.1
Westport	Yes	17.1	21.4
Westwood	Yes	7	28.4
Whately	Yes	127.1	28
Whitman	Yes	17.9	32.5
Wilbraham	Yes	6.3	31.6
Williamsburg	Yes	-2.9	19.8
Wilmington	Yes	4.6	29.4
Winchendon	Yes	15.1	29.3
Winchester	Yes	0.9	21.3
Winthrop Town	Yes	-2.1	21.1
Woburn	Yes	1.7	24
Worcester	Yes	19.4	12.8
Worthington	Yes	18.3	32.8
Wrentham	Yes	10.9	39.2
Yarmouth	Yes	2.5	25.3
Tolland	Yes	-2.1	34.7
Nahant	Yes	-2.5	20.9
Nantucket County	No	1.2	26.4