Why do I get political texts from Texas campaigns? How to opt-out before Election Day

Leading up to Election Day in Texas, political campaigns have been fervently working to remind registered voters to head to the polls or support a candidate.

While some voters may receive mailers or phone calls, others might get an avalanche of daily text messages.

But if you are someone who is already politically astute and does not require constant reminders about voting or information on candidates, you might be wondering when will the messages stop and how to get out of receiving them.

According to Robokiller, a national call-blocking service, political texts outpaced phone calls by a wide margin. Its analysis estimated people received 253 million political robo texts and 1.1 million political robocalls just in December 2023 alone.

Here’s a quick guide to campaign texts in Texas.

Why do I get campaign text messages?

Campaigns can obtain these numbers by leveraging extensive databases and digital tools designed to gather and utilize voter contact information, according to Time magazine.

Political parties and campaigns have access to voter registration records, which commonly include phone numbers and residential addresses.

These records are typically maintained by state and local governments and are considered public information, enabling campaigns to access them to perform outreach.

How to opt out of political campaign text messages

According to the Federal Communications Commission, campaign calls and texts are exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry requirements. However, campaigns must follow rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

If you don’t want to receive texts from a campaign, reply “STOP.” Per the FCC, legitimate campaigns should honor opt-out requests.

Depending on your mobile phone carrier, you may have a setting that filters messages from numbers that you do not recognize or are not in your stored contacts.

For iPhone users, push the messages icon in your phone settings and scroll to “filter unknown senders.” To enable this option, slide the button to the “on” position. It helps limit texts you don’t want to see.

If you think you’ve received a political robocall or text that does not comply with FCC rules, you can file an informal complaint with the FCC at fcc.gov/complaints.

This story was originally published October 24, 2024 at 2:21 PM.