Two public interest groups implored US Attorney General Merrick Garland and Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul on Tuesday to investigate anonymous text messages sent to young Wisconsin voters threatening civil penalties and jail time for violating state voting laws. The groups described the messages as attempts at voter intimidation.
Free Speech for the People wrote a letter to the attorneys general on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. The letter cited the federal Voting Rights Act and a similar state law, both of which prohibit threats, coercion, or intimidation to compel or dissuade voters from casting a ballot, as authority for federal action against the text campaign. The groups contended that although the message was only sent by an anonymous text, the method in which they were sent made the message “more dangerous” in that it enabled the sender to access high numbers of voters in a short period. An accompanying press release from Free Speech for the People called the message “disinformation” meant to threaten and intimidate.
The letter stated:
Without prompt investigation and action, the sender may continue its efforts to frighten eligible young voters into not voting. The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin strongly urges the U.S. Department of Justice and the Wisconsin Office of the Attorney General to investigate, identify the source of the messages, and promptly take appropriate enforcement action against the perpetrators in order to protect Wisconsin’s voters.
According to the letter, thousands of young voters received a threatening text message with the admonition “WARNING,” cautioning them against violating Wisconsin Statutes 12.13 and 6.18. The two statutes respectively concern election fraud and the voting eligibility of former residents, and the text stated that violations could result in 3.5 years in prison or “fines up to $10,000.” The message also warned voters against voting in a state where they were not eligible.
The groups added that the messages specifically targeted voters between the ages of 18 and 25, many of whom were students living and attending college in the state of Wisconsin. The letter stated:
Students who live and attend college in Wisconsin are allowed to choose whether to register to vote with their school address or their home address. But now many students and other young voters are fearful that they will face criminal prosecution if they register to vote—because of a malicious, inaccurate text sent by an anonymous party.
Fears over potential election security and fairness in the upcoming 2024 elections have proliferated across the US. A Georgia judge on Tuesday temporarily suspended a state rule that required paper ballots to be hand-counted, preventing the hand-count rule from applying to the upcoming November election. Earlier this month, a federal court blocked a California law that allowed the subjects of election-related deepfakes to sue the creators for damages. Additionally, the US Department of Justice indicted three Iranian men last month over an alleged hack-and-leak plot by Iran to undermine the presidential election.
