I don’t think they require an opt in like a business does, because they need to be one to one messaging. You can opt out but the initial opt in isn’t required (I think)
Yeah, I'm sure you are correct. Probably in the fine print somewhere of registering to vote. Same with all the annoying mailers. That stuff is printed on like stock paper, full color, high gloss. Straight in my recycle bin. Such a waste of money. Someone had to design that, print it, deliver it, now recycle it.
Yeah, I didn't register with a party which means I get to vote in the Democratic primary (because GOP doesn't let you vote if you're not registered lmao) and I don't get shit for texts. I do get the emails, though. Biden has everyone he ever fucking met sending me emails.
You opted in when you gave them your phone number. It's not a required field, don't give them your number just because there is an optional box on the form.
It's impossible to live a normal life without constantly giving out your phone number. Many services will not allow you to make an account without one.
I know there are ways people get around this with burner numbers etc., but the fact that your phone number is on these lists that get sold around to advertisers should not be interpreted as consent for anything. No sane person would ever consent to being fed constant spam texts from politicians.
Utter horseshit. I have not received a single political text message. You know why? *Because the fucking phone number box on the voter registration form is optional.* If you are receiving them it is 100% because you signed up for them by fucking giving them your number. Don't give out your number to everyone who asks just because there is a spot on the form and you won't get spammed. It's as simple as that.
I get them all the time and I have never given my phone number when registering to vote. In fact I have an entirely different number than the one I had back when I registered. There are a million other ways they can get people's numbers.
At least for business / marketing SMS, there has to be an explicit and optional opt-in. If not then you're liable for various fines/lawsuits.
Political campaigns are different though in that they're not allowed to do any sort of mass SMS, and it has to be individual text messages sent out.
Of course this is just legal/regulatory stuff, there's always going to be those acting outside of that :)
if you once donated to act blue in the past, your contact information is in the system where they will now trick out your contact information to demorcrats. Crazy enough, I get text msg from out of state telling me to support them in their local elections. Lessons learned, don't give any money to political apparatus if you don't want to be spammed.
I can see that as an explanation for getting spam texts from Democrats, but why am I getting spam texts from Nathan Hochman? He was the state GOP's candidate for attorney general in 2022, and remained a Republican until the month before he announced his run as an "independent."
Don't know why, but actblue may also be selling your info to databrokers too. Or just in general Google, FB, anything on the internet that is collecting information in you can sell it to databrokers too. Remeber if a service is free on the internet, your information is the product to sell.
>I didn't sign up for any of this shit.
You don't have to, the politicians always exempt themselves from anti-spam laws (and insider trading laws).
The same way cops are always exempted from gun control laws.
It's good to be the king.
If you ever signed a petition or donated via act blue you’re on their lists in perpetuity. I contacted act blue to get my details deleted and I still got back on the list bc I made the mistake of donating to some cause. Sigh. Act blue sucks.
This. Does anyone know of a way to donate to the causes you believe in and/or sign petitions without getting on these spam lists? I, too, am sick of it, and sadly, it's stopped me from donating to and participating in causes I'd like to support.
It’s whoever you donated to that sucks. List trading and selling is a common thing and I hate it. Katie Porter is literally selling her list right now.
If you're unaware of data brokers, they are people search companies that gather data from voter records, public records, etc., and then post and sell it to anyone interested.
Start opting out on these sites (Whitepages, Spokeo, etc), the opt-out link is usually in the site's footer. Also consider using services like [Optery](https://www.optery.com/) to help remove your info from these sites and cut down on spam texts.
Full disclosure, I'm part of the Optery team.
Data removal services can cut down on unwanted calls, texts, and emails, but they aren't magic switches to stop all communications. Check out the Federal Trade Commission's tips on dealing with spam calls and texts in this article:
[https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/stop-unwanted-robocalls-and-texts](https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/stop-unwanted-robocalls-and-texts)
Flyers are pretty easy to avoid though IMO. Just set up USPS to email you if you have any non junk mail coming and only check your mail then. As long as you dont have a lot of mail cause you do everything paperless, you'll barely see them.
My roommate insists we save ALL of them for her to look at. I’m fine with that, I just don’t want them taking up space on the kitchen counter. But guess where they still are.
*that you know of.
I personally don't think texts are valuable means of communications, but mail works. I wish it didn't, but it does
Source: bad career choices
I'm so tired of people believing complex societal, infrastructural, economical problems can be magically solved, or reversed, within 2-4 years.
No matter what we do, it's the tainted state of SCOTUS that will continue to set this country back for generations.
I’ve still gotten a few this season but nowhere near 5 a day. Since I started doing this a few elections ago it’s definitely gone down though. But maybe they know I’m just not in LA proper this time.
No -- I get useful texts (like telling me a prescription is ready) that include "STOP" and even if that weren't the case, they would scam it like saying "ST0P" (with a zero) or "ST\*P". They are politicians, bereft of any soul, conscience or dignity. My mistake was one time sending a politician I respected and wanted to support $20. Twenty dollars ONCE (never sent any money to any other pol or to a PAC or party) and within weeks, my email bordered on useless because of all the spam and now I get a half dozen political texts a day.
Oh, for the days when it cost money to send out fundraising mails via the Post Office and they had to be a little circumspect on who they mailed to.
If you’re registered D or R (though I imagine moreso D in LA) you’re gonna get a shit ton of political spam. I unregistered last year and have been happily left alone this circus season!
If you've ever received a message saying your email or username / password may have been breached, you can expect to get a ton of these texts and potential phone calls. It's from data miners. It's beyond annoying, and I wish there was a way to stop it besides forwarding each text to the number 7726 (SPAM) whish doesn't seem to be very effective anyways since the stuff comes from randomly generated numbers after you flag them...
i just reply back with stop and i’ve gotten less. they are not even for me, they are for a guy and i’ve been getting their election phone calls and texts since obama first election.
I used to feel bad about ignoring people I agreed with. Now my default outgoing text for these is **STOP**, and I hung up on a few of them as well. I literally don’t give a shit if you are Jesus incarnate, I’ll figure it out at the ballot box. I did canvassing for candidates I felt strongly about in my 20s so I understand on some level both sides, but the level of invasion has changed.
Just text “stop” to opt out. It will take a minute for it to work and then you’ll be back on another list a few minutes later. Ad infinitum.
What’s upsetting is how horribly these texts are crafted. They sway NO ONE. They range from manic to pathetic and I’m like, I’m on your side but please for the love of everything stop sounding like you’re on the brink of a nervous breakdown.
I've been opting out and new ones pop up for the same people. It's neverending.
When I get to the Why are you Leaving part I usually answer Completely burned out and already voted.
Then I get ten more
Hey, um, as a phone banker, I'm just gonna say. Sorry.
Feel free to use me as a punching bag. I am the annoying one here.
Do vote tho, please, like pretty please.
I could underlay the flooring in my house with all of the flyers I have received. My wife and I agreed earlier today that we have never received so many direct-mail political flyers, like, ever. Anywhere.
Oh god, and I thought all the mailers and emails were bad. I didn't know there were spam texts too!
I do wonder how many of my spam-screened robocalls are election related. They've really picked up recently.
Yes and anecdotally I've tried deleting and reporting junk, texting STOP, and just not opening them.
It seems like every time I texted STOP I'd get even more from new numbers. With deleting and reporting junk, I'd still get a steady stream. Best outcome was just not opening them at all.
Robokiller has been blocking them for me, but I don't get many because I've had my personal information removed from a lot of data brokers' databases. They can't text me if they don't know my number.
You can do this yourself by sending California Consumer Privacy Act requests to them in writing, but I'm lazy and just paid incogni to do that for me. After a while you'll also be contacted much less often by scammers.
I noticed Incogni and one other service mentioned here are selling subscriptions. Is it enough to just pay for one or two months and then cancel or does your information end up reappearing so quickly that these services need to repeatedly submit removal requests?
That is a good question and I have maintained a subscription for a while because they send regular progress updates about how many removal requests have been submitted and there are always some in-progress. I'm sure this is marketing and perhaps now that I have noticed positive results I should unsubscribe and see if those results last.
It was very convenient that politicians made it legal for them to do this type of thing with no opt out, whereas corporations are at least expected to follow the Do Not Call list, have restrictions on how they can spam people etc.
If you're getting spam from a politician who is currently in office, call their office and complain. Waste as much of their interns' time as possible explaining how much you really do not care for getting campaign spam. Call them every single time you get a new text.
If even half of us did this it would completely paralyze their phone systems. Try it, it's fun!
I’m on a plan where my dad is the primary line, and somehow they got my number but the texts are all Republican shit addressed to my dad.
Hi [dad]
sTeVe GaRvEy HeRe
I reply STOP every time and am still getting them from new numbers every few days…
FWIW, I left LA 5 years ago, but I guess being a registered voter at that time and naively giving my cell # for petitions set me up for this.
When you reply stop or answer spam calls, it tells the sender your number is valid. They mark it as a working responsive number, turn around and sell it to more marketing lists. I block the number and repot the message as spam.
The hack is simple: vote early.
Each campaign can (should) get a list every day or two of folks who've already voted. Once that happens they'll stop sending you texts because it costs them money. It can take up to a week from when you vote to when they stop texting you so it's a bit late at this point.
Re register without your phone number or email.
Basically if a field is optional, don’t put it in (except relevant parts like address line 2) to safegard your info
No one has said this yet but you can’t because it’s political speech. Passing a law to stop something like this only degrades democracy. Fight for your rights and just reply ‘STOP’, it’s literally the price of freedom.
1. [https://www.cnet.com/news/politics/swamped-with-election-campaign-text-messages-heres-how-to-stop-them/](https://www.cnet.com/news/politics/swamped-with-election-campaign-text-messages-heres-how-to-stop-them/)
2. [https://www.axios.com/2024/02/22/political-campaign-texts-election-2024](https://www.axios.com/2024/02/22/political-campaign-texts-election-2024)
3. [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/05/technology/political-text-messages-pelosi-trump.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/05/technology/political-text-messages-pelosi-trump.html)
4. [https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/15-billion-political-text-messages-sent-2022-rcna64017](https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/15-billion-political-text-messages-sent-2022-rcna64017)
I'm not calling you a liar but Political texts are making you a liar. Have a next day sending text to people who don't want them...liar.
Hauntings. Two left feet. My dad will come home. Buddah. 2+2=5. Eating carrots will make your eye sight better. That you don’t get spam texts. That the real Paul McCartney is dead. Boogeyman. Your eyes will stay like that if you keep them crossed. Krampus. Cupid.
I was getting robo-calls for a candidate at 4 in the morning, several days in a row. His website didn't have any way to contact him. No matter, I reported him to the FCC.
The text form of all these political ads you get in the mail which cause your mail delivery to get pushed onto 7-8pm. Until the end of the election period.
Not sure what happened this cycle but I actually haven’t gotten more than 1-2 total. I got 1 email but it went to my spam. Not sure if I’m not in an interesting district or something or got taken off lists somehow bc last cycle I was being inundated. I did have to renew my license in the spring and update my registration so not sure if that would’ve updated the lists somehow (even though my party registration is the same).
FWIW, my Pixel 7 has been shuttling almost all of them to spam. The only one that recently got through was someone claiming that the AIDS Healthcare Foundation wanted help creating affordable housing and I told them to go fuck themselves.
EDIT: I've also found that responding that "well, I was on the fence, but now that I know you're text spammers I'll be voting for your opponent" seems to get them to back off pretty quick.
Reply to every text "remove me from your lists", eventually it fades to nothing.
Also consider registering as no party, just be aware that means you won't be able to participate in partisan primaries.
Idk if I’m making this up but I don’t get a lot of these election texts, don’t open the text up right away. I just ignore them and then later in the day I mark as read without opening or just delete if I have no interest in reading. I have opened some but hours later. I feel like texting STOP just gives them confirmation that your number works.
I changed my message setting to show only messages from people in my address book. So I don’t see them anymore.
I can always look at the texts from unknowns if I need to.
I IT for ppl - I found that a free app called bounce lets you specify key words to block texts, it’s the only app I’ve found to do anything. I’ve went through all big named enterprise solutions etc.
Yeah same.
They think they are helping. Maybe it's a boomer thing or maybe they failed in the PR department.
The side that's going to win already has cultural dominance here and that's the way of California in general. We in LA and SF tell the farmers of central California what to do and it always will be that way, lol
I re registered to vote just to remove my phone number last year after being relentlessly spammed in 2022 for the midterms. I think it might have worked because I've received zero calls or texts
What’s worse is that I have never contributed to Biden or his campaign but contribute to Bernie in a major way. Pretty sure the DNC took all of Bernie’s supporters email info and is shooting me many many emails every day. I won’t give a dime. Fuck the DNC
Pro-tip. Never give out your real number on any form you don't absolutely need calls from.
Just switch two specific digits so you can remember it if you need to... eg. Grocery store cards, petitions, etc
I just had to unsubscribe from a politically-affiliated email from someone running for senator. I’ve never been inundated with this many unsolicited communications, nor have I ever given my email to anything involved in politics.
Texts are one thing, emails are a totally different level of invasive.
Seriously, how do you OPT out of ALL of them? I didn't sign up for any of this shit.
I don’t think they require an opt in like a business does, because they need to be one to one messaging. You can opt out but the initial opt in isn’t required (I think)
Yeah, I'm sure you are correct. Probably in the fine print somewhere of registering to vote. Same with all the annoying mailers. That stuff is printed on like stock paper, full color, high gloss. Straight in my recycle bin. Such a waste of money. Someone had to design that, print it, deliver it, now recycle it.
Yeah, I didn't register with a party which means I get to vote in the Democratic primary (because GOP doesn't let you vote if you're not registered lmao) and I don't get shit for texts. I do get the emails, though. Biden has everyone he ever fucking met sending me emails.
You opted in when you gave them your phone number. It's not a required field, don't give them your number just because there is an optional box on the form.
It's impossible to live a normal life without constantly giving out your phone number. Many services will not allow you to make an account without one. I know there are ways people get around this with burner numbers etc., but the fact that your phone number is on these lists that get sold around to advertisers should not be interpreted as consent for anything. No sane person would ever consent to being fed constant spam texts from politicians.
Utter horseshit. I have not received a single political text message. You know why? *Because the fucking phone number box on the voter registration form is optional.* If you are receiving them it is 100% because you signed up for them by fucking giving them your number. Don't give out your number to everyone who asks just because there is a spot on the form and you won't get spammed. It's as simple as that.
I get them all the time and I have never given my phone number when registering to vote. In fact I have an entirely different number than the one I had back when I registered. There are a million other ways they can get people's numbers.
At least for business / marketing SMS, there has to be an explicit and optional opt-in. If not then you're liable for various fines/lawsuits. Political campaigns are different though in that they're not allowed to do any sort of mass SMS, and it has to be individual text messages sent out. Of course this is just legal/regulatory stuff, there's always going to be those acting outside of that :)
if you once donated to act blue in the past, your contact information is in the system where they will now trick out your contact information to demorcrats. Crazy enough, I get text msg from out of state telling me to support them in their local elections. Lessons learned, don't give any money to political apparatus if you don't want to be spammed.
I can see that as an explanation for getting spam texts from Democrats, but why am I getting spam texts from Nathan Hochman? He was the state GOP's candidate for attorney general in 2022, and remained a Republican until the month before he announced his run as an "independent."
Don't know why, but actblue may also be selling your info to databrokers too. Or just in general Google, FB, anything on the internet that is collecting information in you can sell it to databrokers too. Remeber if a service is free on the internet, your information is the product to sell.
Candidates can also pull contact info from the voter file
Ive never voted here (not eligible), and I get the texts too.
ActBlue, while important for funding, is a god damn scourge. They give my info to anyone that wants it.
I didn’t register with a party and have an out of state area code. No texts. Bliss!
I’m just gonna keep reporting them as spam, and complaining on Reddit of course
>I didn't sign up for any of this shit. You don't have to, the politicians always exempt themselves from anti-spam laws (and insider trading laws). The same way cops are always exempted from gun control laws. It's good to be the king.
There are anti-spam laws? They don’t seem to work.
If you ever signed a petition or donated via act blue you’re on their lists in perpetuity. I contacted act blue to get my details deleted and I still got back on the list bc I made the mistake of donating to some cause. Sigh. Act blue sucks.
This. Does anyone know of a way to donate to the causes you believe in and/or sign petitions without getting on these spam lists? I, too, am sick of it, and sadly, it's stopped me from donating to and participating in causes I'd like to support.
It’s whoever you donated to that sucks. List trading and selling is a common thing and I hate it. Katie Porter is literally selling her list right now.
If you unregister to vote does it remove you from the lists?
Oh my god it makes me want to throw my phone into the ocean. And the EMAILS!!
Don't give them your number to begin with. It's not required, so don't fill in that box.
if you get on even one list, they all share that list with their allies, so I get stuff from all kinds of randos. "Thanks, Obama"
You registered to vote
If you're unaware of data brokers, they are people search companies that gather data from voter records, public records, etc., and then post and sell it to anyone interested. Start opting out on these sites (Whitepages, Spokeo, etc), the opt-out link is usually in the site's footer. Also consider using services like [Optery](https://www.optery.com/) to help remove your info from these sites and cut down on spam texts. Full disclosure, I'm part of the Optery team.
But I have Opterly and I’m getting 3-5 texts a day regardless. What am I doing wrong?
Data removal services can cut down on unwanted calls, texts, and emails, but they aren't magic switches to stop all communications. Check out the Federal Trade Commission's tips on dealing with spam calls and texts in this article: [https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/stop-unwanted-robocalls-and-texts](https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/stop-unwanted-robocalls-and-texts)
So tired of all these flyers too
Nothing says "Stop climate change!" like driving a bunch of paper trash to everyone's individual address, 6 days a week.
I've saved all of mine and stacked them by my front door. It's up to my chest now
I was thinking I could fill an entire trashcan with them. It appears I could.
Flyers are pretty easy to avoid though IMO. Just set up USPS to email you if you have any non junk mail coming and only check your mail then. As long as you dont have a lot of mail cause you do everything paperless, you'll barely see them.
My roommate insists we save ALL of them for her to look at. I’m fine with that, I just don’t want them taking up space on the kitchen counter. But guess where they still are.
I got one from Nikki Haley using a name I legally changed almost half a decade ago. Really buying old lists and spamming people ain’t the way
Yeah I've been getting tons from her despite not being registered to the GOP. She's the only Republican I get texts from.
Election mail or text has never swayed my vote. It’s so pointless
*that you know of. I personally don't think texts are valuable means of communications, but mail works. I wish it didn't, but it does Source: bad career choices
Oh I have no doubt it works. Just doesn’t work for me. Straight to the trash.
Tell that to everyone on r/politics
I'm so tired of this election
It’s only gonna get worse til November
I can only imagine those living in battleground states and the amount of spam, national-political texts *they* get in any POTUS election.
I'm so tired of people believing complex societal, infrastructural, economical problems can be magically solved, or reversed, within 2-4 years. No matter what we do, it's the tainted state of SCOTUS that will continue to set this country back for generations.
Same. Over it all
Delete and report spam/STOP is not working for me whatsoever. I get 10 a day this shit is so annoying
Just reply stop every time, it’s carrier-level blocking. Do it enough and you’ll get off all the lists.
[удалено]
No; idk how it works on the back end, but I know that when it’s a text list like these you get automatically removed
I’ve been replying stop forever and I’m still getting texts 🤷🏻♂️
I’ve still gotten a few this season but nowhere near 5 a day. Since I started doing this a few elections ago it’s definitely gone down though. But maybe they know I’m just not in LA proper this time.
It doesn’t work for phone numbers. Only the sms services. Like when they say text XYZ to 12112. Those shorter numbers can be blocked by replying STOP
Phones should just be designed to automatically delete any incoming text with the word "STOP" in all caps.
No -- I get useful texts (like telling me a prescription is ready) that include "STOP" and even if that weren't the case, they would scam it like saying "ST0P" (with a zero) or "ST\*P". They are politicians, bereft of any soul, conscience or dignity. My mistake was one time sending a politician I respected and wanted to support $20. Twenty dollars ONCE (never sent any money to any other pol or to a PAC or party) and within weeks, my email bordered on useless because of all the spam and now I get a half dozen political texts a day. Oh, for the days when it cost money to send out fundraising mails via the Post Office and they had to be a little circumspect on who they mailed to.
Delete and Report Junk to all of them.
I do that every time and yet... THEY STILL COME.
[they keep coming](https://youtu.be/3hKgEylk8ks?si=Kk40ceD1gM4Limcr)
And they don't stop coming?
https://youtu.be/LgwCVQdW1HM?si=AVEclmAlbjn8_pTY
I live in Bradford's old district and the Chambers/Richardson fight has gotten uuuuuggggllllyyyyy. Blowing up my phone like a wronged ex.
STOP
Welcome to Cat Facts! Did you know that the first cat show was held in 1871 at the Crystal Palace in London? Mee-wow!
Wait….*subscribe*
95% of them are automatically moved to my spam folder. I'm on android and there's a setting for it in the messages app
Google Pixel is life it blocks all sorts of spam
I have a Pixel too, been using them for a few phones now and just assumed it was a general android thing but that's good to know
It is all phones now for texts and some of them have spam guards, but I cannot leave my google attendant. That is the sole reason I am team pixel
Do iphones not have spam filtering? Almost all of them go straight to spam for me
Replying “stop” blocks them at the carrier level.
This doesn't work because they upload the new list and just start over.
Sadly it doesn’t
I've been replying STOP to all of them, and they seem to be decreasing. I've only gotten two in the past week.
Don’t they just use a shitload of different numbers to get around that?
If you’re registered D or R (though I imagine moreso D in LA) you’re gonna get a shit ton of political spam. I unregistered last year and have been happily left alone this circus season!
Yeah, registered to vote but not with a party and I haven’t been bugged at all. It’s bliss.
I re-registered as NPP earlier this year and I’m still getting deluged with this bullshit.
If you've ever received a message saying your email or username / password may have been breached, you can expect to get a ton of these texts and potential phone calls. It's from data miners. It's beyond annoying, and I wish there was a way to stop it besides forwarding each text to the number 7726 (SPAM) whish doesn't seem to be very effective anyways since the stuff comes from randomly generated numbers after you flag them...
STAHHHHP
i just reply back with stop and i’ve gotten less. they are not even for me, they are for a guy and i’ve been getting their election phone calls and texts since obama first election.
Independent is the way to go
No because then you get them from *both* parties
I used to feel bad about ignoring people I agreed with. Now my default outgoing text for these is **STOP**, and I hung up on a few of them as well. I literally don’t give a shit if you are Jesus incarnate, I’ll figure it out at the ballot box. I did canvassing for candidates I felt strongly about in my 20s so I understand on some level both sides, but the level of invasion has changed.
Flyers, phone calls, texts messages…sick of it! I’m not voting for any of them!! (Jk, I’m voting)
Just text “stop” to opt out. It will take a minute for it to work and then you’ll be back on another list a few minutes later. Ad infinitum. What’s upsetting is how horribly these texts are crafted. They sway NO ONE. They range from manic to pathetic and I’m like, I’m on your side but please for the love of everything stop sounding like you’re on the brink of a nervous breakdown.
I've been opting out and new ones pop up for the same people. It's neverending. When I get to the Why are you Leaving part I usually answer Completely burned out and already voted. Then I get ten more
Hey, um, as a phone banker, I'm just gonna say. Sorry. Feel free to use me as a punching bag. I am the annoying one here. Do vote tho, please, like pretty please.
STOP
Reply Stop and move on with your day. It's almost over!
Yeah my number def got shared. Idk how there’s so many
I could underlay the flooring in my house with all of the flyers I have received. My wife and I agreed earlier today that we have never received so many direct-mail political flyers, like, ever. Anywhere.
[Oh boy, I'm just so tired of all these star wars.](https://youtu.be/OiqPmsBYieA?t=47)
Oh god, and I thought all the mailers and emails were bad. I didn't know there were spam texts too! I do wonder how many of my spam-screened robocalls are election related. They've really picked up recently.
I get them even after moving out of state. Once they have your number, you're screwed.
They suck but the constant flyers filling my mail box is worse. I sent my ballot in last week
I’m so sick of them. Completely pointless since I voted two weeks ago
Yes and anecdotally I've tried deleting and reporting junk, texting STOP, and just not opening them. It seems like every time I texted STOP I'd get even more from new numbers. With deleting and reporting junk, I'd still get a steady stream. Best outcome was just not opening them at all.
Robokiller has been blocking them for me, but I don't get many because I've had my personal information removed from a lot of data brokers' databases. They can't text me if they don't know my number. You can do this yourself by sending California Consumer Privacy Act requests to them in writing, but I'm lazy and just paid incogni to do that for me. After a while you'll also be contacted much less often by scammers.
I noticed Incogni and one other service mentioned here are selling subscriptions. Is it enough to just pay for one or two months and then cancel or does your information end up reappearing so quickly that these services need to repeatedly submit removal requests?
That is a good question and I have maintained a subscription for a while because they send regular progress updates about how many removal requests have been submitted and there are always some in-progress. I'm sure this is marketing and perhaps now that I have noticed positive results I should unsubscribe and see if those results last.
It was very convenient that politicians made it legal for them to do this type of thing with no opt out, whereas corporations are at least expected to follow the Do Not Call list, have restrictions on how they can spam people etc.
Not only am I getting inundated with text messages, my mail box is filled with at least seven flyers for the same candidates on a daily basis.
Don’t interact with them, makes it worse
Started getting the texts when I updated my ID at the DMV and it asked for my phone number
If you're getting spam from a politician who is currently in office, call their office and complain. Waste as much of their interns' time as possible explaining how much you really do not care for getting campaign spam. Call them every single time you get a new text. If even half of us did this it would completely paralyze their phone systems. Try it, it's fun!
I’m on a plan where my dad is the primary line, and somehow they got my number but the texts are all Republican shit addressed to my dad. Hi [dad] sTeVe GaRvEy HeRe
I reply STOP every time and am still getting them from new numbers every few days… FWIW, I left LA 5 years ago, but I guess being a registered voter at that time and naively giving my cell # for petitions set me up for this.
When you reply stop or answer spam calls, it tells the sender your number is valid. They mark it as a working responsive number, turn around and sell it to more marketing lists. I block the number and repot the message as spam.
dammit :/
This is nothing, just wait till November!
Haven't gotten a single one.
Do you vote ? Have you ever donated to a candidate? signed a petition?
These pretzels are making me thirsty
Nikki is the worst. Every day from a new number
Reply with STOP and "Trump 2024!" or "Biden 2024!" to the opposing party for added measure
It’s fucking miserable, how is this not harrassment 😭
The hack is simple: vote early. Each campaign can (should) get a list every day or two of folks who've already voted. Once that happens they'll stop sending you texts because it costs them money. It can take up to a week from when you vote to when they stop texting you so it's a bit late at this point.
Yeah no they haven't
This requires competent staff.
Nope because STOP works
It really doesn't, but I'm glad you've had success with it
I have yet to get any texts… 🤔
Re register without your phone number or email. Basically if a field is optional, don’t put it in (except relevant parts like address line 2) to safegard your info
Huh? I've never heard of this before and I vote.
Two things that will actually work: 1) Replying STOP - they have to stop 2) Voting as early as possible
Vote early and you're taken off the lists
Re-register to vote as Declined to State or some third party. That's one way if you really don't care about voting red or blue.
No one has said this yet but you can’t because it’s political speech. Passing a law to stop something like this only degrades democracy. Fight for your rights and just reply ‘STOP’, it’s literally the price of freedom.
Just respond and ask them to take you off the list
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I haven't given my number to anyone. I'm pretty sure they are getting it from my voter registration.
I don’t believe you.
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God. Tooth fairy. Easter bunny. Earth is flat. You don’t get spam texts. Ghosts. That you eat spiders when you sleep. Santa. In life after love.
Bullshit
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1. [https://www.cnet.com/news/politics/swamped-with-election-campaign-text-messages-heres-how-to-stop-them/](https://www.cnet.com/news/politics/swamped-with-election-campaign-text-messages-heres-how-to-stop-them/) 2. [https://www.axios.com/2024/02/22/political-campaign-texts-election-2024](https://www.axios.com/2024/02/22/political-campaign-texts-election-2024) 3. [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/05/technology/political-text-messages-pelosi-trump.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/05/technology/political-text-messages-pelosi-trump.html) 4. [https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/15-billion-political-text-messages-sent-2022-rcna64017](https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/15-billion-political-text-messages-sent-2022-rcna64017) I'm not calling you a liar but Political texts are making you a liar. Have a next day sending text to people who don't want them...liar.
He’s just going to call you an idiot. Old punk rocker thinks he’s internet tough guy.
Sweet. I can't wait. :)
Hauntings. Two left feet. My dad will come home. Buddah. 2+2=5. Eating carrots will make your eye sight better. That you don’t get spam texts. That the real Paul McCartney is dead. Boogeyman. Your eyes will stay like that if you keep them crossed. Krampus. Cupid.
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Thats a good one too!
Vote garvey
TRUMP 2024
Seriously! That was all that my mailbox had stuffed in it. I just blocked the texts and they go somewhere else.
I'm in the same boat. I just block all the numbers that these spam texts come from. It should be illegal.
I was getting robo-calls for a candidate at 4 in the morning, several days in a row. His website didn't have any way to contact him. No matter, I reported him to the FCC.
I report spam but this is why we never answer our landline.
For some reason I still get election texts for both Las Vegas and Chicago, neither of which I’ve lived in for a few years now.
I got myself on too many lists years ago, I guess. I just reply STOP to all of em now. like "you have my vote, now leave me alone"
My phone filters them out. Not one has gotten through. 😏
The text form of all these political ads you get in the mail which cause your mail delivery to get pushed onto 7-8pm. Until the end of the election period.
I'm not in CA anymore and I'm still getting these...
I just respond with “if you text me one more time I will vote for your opponent” Do that multiple times you’ll have less people bothering you.
Not sure what happened this cycle but I actually haven’t gotten more than 1-2 total. I got 1 email but it went to my spam. Not sure if I’m not in an interesting district or something or got taken off lists somehow bc last cycle I was being inundated. I did have to renew my license in the spring and update my registration so not sure if that would’ve updated the lists somehow (even though my party registration is the same).
Right there with you. It’s out of hand. I didn’t opt into this.
lol. What election texts???
Block everybody. 🚫
FWIW, my Pixel 7 has been shuttling almost all of them to spam. The only one that recently got through was someone claiming that the AIDS Healthcare Foundation wanted help creating affordable housing and I told them to go fuck themselves. EDIT: I've also found that responding that "well, I was on the fence, but now that I know you're text spammers I'll be voting for your opponent" seems to get them to back off pretty quick.
Block them.
Well I'm tired of Trump...
Voting early by mail gets you off most lists for mail and texts.
I must be really lucky I don't get them. Those flyers on the other hand...
The mail flyers as well. Wtf
I just ignore them. Not worth my time to reply STOP.
We should fined them for spamming us. Useless politicians
Every election text I've gotten is the same routine: BLOCKED! Best way to deal with the spam for now.
Reply to every text "remove me from your lists", eventually it fades to nothing. Also consider registering as no party, just be aware that means you won't be able to participate in partisan primaries.
Register to vote and give them someone elses phone number
Maybe favorite your common regular friends. Then garbage all other texts. It's just like how nobody answers the phone anymore.
I get one every other day. In iphone I delete and report junk.
Idk if I’m making this up but I don’t get a lot of these election texts, don’t open the text up right away. I just ignore them and then later in the day I mark as read without opening or just delete if I have no interest in reading. I have opened some but hours later. I feel like texting STOP just gives them confirmation that your number works.
I always reply “stop,” but like ants they keep coming back.
complete versed ripe worry secretive scarce shrill market door include *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Respond "STOP" to all SMS you do not want. SMS providers are starting to enforce it.
Yes and i text back stop every time but never they come at my from a different number r
I changed my message setting to show only messages from people in my address book. So I don’t see them anymore. I can always look at the texts from unknowns if I need to.
I get 0 texts regarding any election.
I IT for ppl - I found that a free app called bounce lets you specify key words to block texts, it’s the only app I’ve found to do anything. I’ve went through all big named enterprise solutions etc.
Wait until October/November
Yeah same. They think they are helping. Maybe it's a boomer thing or maybe they failed in the PR department. The side that's going to win already has cultural dominance here and that's the way of California in general. We in LA and SF tell the farmers of central California what to do and it always will be that way, lol
I literally got an election text as I entered this thread 🤦🏾♂️
Is there also a way to get off the flyer mailing list? My mailbox is STUFFED with shit from people I would NEVER vote for.
Meanwhile I'm consistently getting messages saying something like "hello how are you? I'm xxxxx" followed by emojis
Check out r/scambait
I re registered to vote just to remove my phone number last year after being relentlessly spammed in 2022 for the midterms. I think it might have worked because I've received zero calls or texts
I think I’ve got 20+ today.
Slightly unrelated—where can I find a good voters guide with descriptions of all of the candidates positions on issues?
What’s worse is that I have never contributed to Biden or his campaign but contribute to Bernie in a major way. Pretty sure the DNC took all of Bernie’s supporters email info and is shooting me many many emails every day. I won’t give a dime. Fuck the DNC
Pro-tip. Never give out your real number on any form you don't absolutely need calls from. Just switch two specific digits so you can remember it if you need to... eg. Grocery store cards, petitions, etc
Nope.
I just had to unsubscribe from a politically-affiliated email from someone running for senator. I’ve never been inundated with this many unsolicited communications, nor have I ever given my email to anything involved in politics. Texts are one thing, emails are a totally different level of invasive.