Voting rights groups seek investigation into Wisconsin text message
MADISON, Wis. — Voting rights advocates on Tuesday asked state and federal authorities to investigate anonymous text messages apparently targeting young voters in Wisconsin, warning them not to vote in a state where they are not eligible.
Free Speech for People filed the request with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Wisconsin Department of Justice on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. The letter states that “thousands of young voters across Wisconsin” received the text message last week, including staff members of the League of Women Voters and students at the University of Wisconsin.
The text in question cites Wisconsin state law that prohibits voting at more than one location and says violating the law could lead to fines of up to $10,000 and 3.5 years in prison.
“Do not vote in a state where you are not eligible,” it said.
Wisconsin is known for its razor-thin presidential elections. Four of the last six were decided by less than one percentage point. President Joe Biden won by fewer than 21,000 votes in 2020.
At least one person who received the text posted it on the social media platform X.
The League of Women Voters said in its request for an investigation that without immediate action “the sender could continue its efforts to scare eligible young voters into not voting.”
Students studying in Wisconsin can register to vote at their home address or at school.
“But now many students and other young voters fear they will face criminal charges if they register and exercise their right to vote – because of a malicious, inaccurate text sent by an anonymous party,” the letter said.
The US Department of Justice declined to comment.
Wisconsin Department of Justice spokesperson Gillian Drummond said the department takes allegations of possible election law violations seriously. She said the agency was reviewing the information in the request for an investigation and would determine “whether any follow-up action is appropriate based on the facts and the law.”
Universities of Wisconsin spokesman Mark Pitsch said in an email that system officials were not aware of any security breaches that may have resulted in leaked student contact information. He added that nothing about the text was reported to system officials, and there was no indication of how many students may have received it.
Riley Vetterkind, a spokesperson for the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said in an email to The Associated Press that the commission cannot determine whether the text message violates state law because the commission has not received a formal complaint about it.
However, he called the message “concerning” and said recipients could certainly be intimidated by it. He urged recipients to contact police directly if they have any concerns about the message.
“We understand that these third-party text messages can be very frustrating for voters,” Vetterkind said. “We encourage voters to rely on official sources for election information, such as those provided by state or local election officials. Voters are free to ignore these text messages as they are not sent or associated with an official source.”
The text message was sent as thousands of Wisconsin voters cast their ballots. As of Monday, nearly 240,000 absentee ballots had been returned across the state.
Beginning October 22, voters can cast absentee ballots in person. Former President Barack Obama plans to join current vice presidential candidate Tim Walz in Madison that day for a rally to encourage early voting.
Wisconsin, along with Michigan and Pennsylvania, is one of the “blue wall” states that are key to Vice President Kamala Harris’ strategy to defeat Republican Donald Trump.