Persuading you to vote for this candidate or that candidate is not just done through television commercials or a campaign office phone call anymore, it’s done through text messages.
Some messages push people to support a certain candidate, others urge voters to not support someone else. Many come with a web link or a phone number in hopes of getting undecided voters to literally hear their message.
But mostly, the text messages are causing some panic because most are sent in the middle of the night between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. It’s a campaign strategy that’s not sitting well with Iowa voters.
“I have two grown children and grandchildren so it’s always an alert that something is wrong,” says Tami Mysak, who received the text messages. “It was very startling. It was just so early.”
“When you get a text message, you generally believe it is from somebody that you trust and somebody that you know,” says Mark Mathis, with ME & V Advertising. “When you don’t, it usually has a negative effect.”
Mathis says the texts are usually from a third party, not the actual candidates’ campaigns, but many voters say they don’t care who it comes from or what they have to say, they just hope the texts start to fade away after the Iowa Caucus on January 3rd.
Political campaigns and organizations can legally get phone numbers and other information provided on your Voter Registration Card because it’s considered public information.