Thousands of Pennsylvania voters were sent text messages telling them falsely that they had already voted. A spokesman for the PAC that sent the texts has apologized and blamed the misinformation on a "copy editing mistake."
Pa. residents got phony texts claiming they had voted already. Ignore them, officials say | Phildelphia Inquirer |: Max Marin & Katie Bernard:
October 28, 2024 - "Thousands of Pennsylvania voters received a text message this weekend that falsely claimed that they had already voted in the Nov. 5 election. 'Records show you voted,' the text read, linking them to an official Pennsylvania website with information about polling places and early voting.
"But the message did not come from an official government resource or a well-known get-out-the-vote advocacy group. Instead, it was signed by 'AllVote,' a self-proclaimed voter-mobilization program that election officials have repeatedly flagged as a scam to be avoided and ignored.
"If 'AllVote' sounds familiar, the name has been linked to other confusion-sowing text campaigns in the lead-up to the election. Montgomery County officials in August warned voters about 'AllVote.com' that was texting registered voters and falsely claiming that they were not registered to vote — part of a scam to 'capture personal, sensitive information from voters in an attempt to exploit them later on,' election commissioners said. Election officials in Arizona and North Carolina raised concerns about text campaigns from an organization with the same name in recent months.
"On Monday, however, a representative from AllVote insisted that it was a misunderstanding. Charlotte Clymer, a contracted spokesperson for AllVote, sent The Inquirer an apologetic statement, describing the texts as a well-intended reminder-turned-disastrous mistake, thanks to a typo committed by staffers.... The organization would not say how many voters were sent the erroneous text.
"The original message was intended to inform Pennsylvania voters that they had cast ballots in 2022 and to direct them toward a verified link to explore their voting options. But 'in 2022' was left out of the script, which led to widespread confusion, the statement said. 'In the heat of the campaign season, workers working long hours simply made a copy-editing mistake,' the statement read.
"A follow-up text was sent to voters who received the initial text message, informing them of the error. But those who replied 'STOP' to the initial message — or marked the sender as spam — may not have received the follow-up, and the organization acknowledged the damage done. 'We deeply apologize for this error, which we understand caused significant confusion, especially amongst voters who have not voted yet but were told they had,' the organization said....
"Clymer described AllVote as 'funded by progressive donors aiming to increase voting participation' but declined to provide details about the group’s backers. A political action committee with that name was registered this year. Yet little public information is available about AllVote, and its website lists no founder or staffers. Clymer said the organization does not disclose its backers for fear of being targeted by the far-right."
Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/news/allvote-text-scam-pennsylvania-20241029.html
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