Florida campaigns send surprise texts

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — As Election Day approaches, cellphones across Florida will buzz as campaigns send huge numbers of unsolicited texts to voters with the assistance of new apps and programs.

Some people find the messages annoying, but political consultants say texting voters is the breakout mode of communications for the 2018 elections.

Republican political consultant Alex Patton said he and two of his friends sent 33,000 texts to educate voters about a Gainesville ballot initiative.

“It’s highly targetable,” said Patton, owner of Ozean Media. “It’s inexpensive. Until we screw it up, it’s the Holy Grail.”

Shelly Soffer, 40, of Coconut Creek, said her phone has been inundated with political text messages that she never signed up to receive.

“I’m annoyed beyond belief,” Soffer said. “They are presumptuous and obnoxious and borderline harassment. I never gave my cellphone number out.”

Many recipients think the unsolicited texts are prohibited by law, but campaigns are using programs that operate in a gray area of a federal consumer-protection statute.

Campaigns are using a new technology called peer-to-peer texting. The texts are not automated spam messages sent in bulk at once using random numbers. Volunteers must hit “send” for each message, but helpful features available in peer-to-peer apps allow a single person to ping thousands of people an hour.

Cellphone numbers are gleaned through public records and other resources.