New Issue One investigation illuminates connections, secretive donors behind groups pushing false election-related narratives

In recent months, a network known as the “Only Citizens Vote Coalition” — which counts more than 80 organizations as members — has been amplifying the biggest myth circulating this election, that large numbers of noncitizens are going to illegally vote, despite the fact that election experts agree that noncitizens voting in federal elections is virtually nonexistent and has never been common enough to determine the outcome of elections.

A new Issue One investigation maps out the ecosystem of the Only Citizens Vote Coalition, highlighting the major groups, their officers, and their known funders in recent years, based on an Issue One analysis of tax filings and campaign finance reports, including records maintained on the IRS’ website and ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer database.

In all, Issue One tracked more than $590 million in contributions since January 2020 to nearly three dozen groups that are now part of the Only Citizens Vote Coalition from more than 140 donor organizations.

All of the contributions and connections identified by Issue One can be further explored in a new interactive data visualization and downloadable spreadsheet that details the nearly 600 financial transactions.

“As this report shows, there is a coordinated push — backed by big money and secretive donors — who are using false narratives for their own political gain,” said Issue One CEO Nick Penniman. “Sowing doubt and distrust in our elections doesn’t advance the integrity of our elections, and we can’t let such attacks undermine the hard work of the teams of people from both parties who go through meticulous steps to verify voter rolls and election results. It’s time to reject division and fear, and instead choose truth over clickbait, proof over unsubstantiated allegations, and country over party.”

Issue One found that 10 beneficiaries — all of which have ties to Project 2025 — accounted for 94% of this sum. (In all, more than 20 organizations that are part of the Only Citizens Vote Coalition — roughly 25% of its entire membership — have been involved in Project 2025, the plan high-profile Trump supporters have created, spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, to steer the policy agenda of a second Trump administration.)

The 85 Fund — which is led by allies of Leonard Leo, the co-chairman of the board of directors of the Federalist Society who has helped build the Supreme Court’s current majority of conservative justices — alone accounted for 70% of the money tracked by Issue One, collecting $413 million from seven different donor organizations since January 2020.

The 85 Fund houses a member of the Only Citizens Vote Coalition known as the Honest Elections Project, which is headed by Jason Snead, who previously spent 10 years at the Heritage Foundation.

The coalition involves several notable people who supported then-President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Some of these people are already working to bolster Trump’s chances in the 2024 presidential election and aid legal challenges that may arise after.

These people include the likes of:

• former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell,
• former Trump transition team power player Ed Corrigan,
• former Trump Cabinet official and co-chair of Trump’s 2025 transition team Linda McMahon,
• former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows,
• and controversial lawyer Cleta Mitchell.

Mitchell — who participated in Trump’s January 2021 call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump urged Raffensperger to “find” the necessary votes to overturn now-President Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election in the state — spearheaded the launch of the Only Citizens Vote Coalition earlier this year.

Issue One’s review of tax filings uncovered that 99.99% of the $753,255 that Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network raised in 2022 — all but $55 — came from two other groups: the Conservative Partnership Institute (which gave $525,000) and Citizens for Renewing America (which gave $228,200).

Following the money behind nonprofits is particularly challenging because annual tax filings must only be submitted to the IRS 11 months after the end of any given fiscal year, meaning documents detailing many groups’ financial activities in 2023 will not be publicly available until after Election Day 2024 — and tax filings covering 2024 for many groups will not be publicly available until November 2025.

Nevertheless, Issue One succeeded in shining a light on groups that have financially supported coalition members in the recent past.

Overall, the top 15 donor organizations accounted for 95% of the total sum identified by Issue One as flowing to groups that are now members of the Only Citizens Vote Coalition. These donor organizations included several big-name Republican-aligned groups as well as numerous donor-advised funds, including funds operated by major financial services companies, funds that cater to devout Christians, and funds that have been helping conservative donors funnel money to their pet causes for years.

Because of the secretive nature of donor-advised funds — which allow individuals to receive an immediate tax deduction for making a charitable contribution and then recommend grants from the fund over time — the true sources of much of the money remain unknown.

Read the full report.

Explore our new interactive data visualization.

Explore our downloadable spreadsheet that details the nearly 600 financial transactions.