Political campaigns, please lose my phone number

A sampling of campaign texts West Virginia Watch editor Leann Ray received on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.

You can’t escape them. They’re on TV and streaming services. Their signs are on every corner. They’re mailing you eight-page glossy magazines for some reason. 

And now they’re texting you.

The politicians have gotten our phone numbers. And I hate it.

Ding! Oh, maybe my friend wants to get dinner or sent me a funny meme.

No. It’s Chris Miller’s son, whose age I’m unsure of and am uncomfortable receiving a text from.

Unless I give you my number and check a box agreeing to receive text messages from you, I don’t ever want you to text me. (And let’s be honest, when I do agree to receive texts from a business, I just want that coupon code and then I unsubscribe.)

Last Wednesday I received four political texts in one afternoon. The first from Republican gubernatorial candidate Miller’s son Fletcher telling me to watch his dad’s ad, which I received twice in 30 minutes. The third was from Morgan Switzer, who is running for Kanawha County prosecuting attorney. The fourth asked me to share my opinion on the 2024 election — you’re not tricking me to click some random link.

But the campaign texts don’t really tell me much.

“Watch my dad’s ad! This is Fletcher. I’m Chris Miller’s son. He’s the political outsider — “

(I interrupt this message to remind everyone that Chris Miller’s mother is Rep. Carol Miller, who is currently representing West Virginia in Congress.)

“ — running for governor. But he’s our dad first. Dad’s fighting to make West Virginia a place my brother, sister, and I will never leave. He’ll fight to strengthen WV families, and he’ll make sure American patriotism is taught in our schools. Take it from me, he’ll be one heck of a governor!”

Is it giving hostage vibes to anyone else? Or the poor Texas Roadhouse employees who have to wear the shirts that say “I love my job!”

Please don’t use your kids to text people.

And how exactly does Miller plan to “strengthen WV families?” The ad doesn’t answer that question either.

Switzer’s video from her text tells a little bit about herself, stating that she “has the most experience” and is “the only true conservative choice for prosecutor.” OK, but why do you want to be the county prosecutor? What will you do in that office?

No matter how much information these texts provide, I consider them to be spam because they’re unwanted. The Federal Communication Commission says that in general robo texts to mobile phones require prior consent. However, it exempts campaign calls and texts from the Do Not Call List requirements as long as they follow specific rules from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. 

The way these campaigns are getting around these rules is by not using autodialing technology. Rather they send the texts by manually dialing in numbers and pushing send.

So why are politicians choosing to text us, besides the fact that so few people have landlines (which require no prior consent to receive robocalls)?

Well, young voters are more likely to respond to texts than calls — text messages have a 98% open rate. 

“The average person looks at their phone every six seconds,” Melissa Michelson, a political science professor at Menlo College in California, told NPR in 2020. “So if you get a text message, you look at it. Your phone makes a cute little noise, if you’re not already looking at it, and you read the message.”

But if you didn’t sign up or give money to a campaign, how are they getting your phone number? There are databases made up of public records, and brokers sell that data to campaigns so they can contact prospective voters. 

The Republican National Committee uses texting as a “critical” part of its Get-Out-The-Vote campaign, RNC spokesperson Anna Kelly told Axios. In 2020, the RNC sent more than 225 million texts.

These texts do have an option to reply “STOP” to be taken off of their lists. If you’ve received a text that you believe doesn’t comply with the FCC’s rules, you can file a formal complaint. If you receive texts you didn’t sign up for, you can also report the sender by forwarding the texts to 7726 (or “SPAM).

The primary election is only two weeks away. The texting will likely ramp up. Thoughts and prayers to those who can’t ignore their phones during working hours.

The post Political campaigns, please lose my phone number appeared first on West Virginia Watch.