How to Quiet Campaign Texts Before Election Day on Nov. 3

If your phone keeps lighting up with campaign texts, you are not imagining it. Early estimates suggest Americans may get more than 60 billion political texts this election cycle, or about 170 per person. That is up from a reported 15 billion texts and 384 million political calls in 2022. A few minutes in your settings can hide most of them.

Why they have your number

The short answer is voter data. All 50 states let campaigns and political groups use voter files for election purposes. If you listed a phone number when you registered, it can end up in those files.

Campaigns also build large contact lists and share them with parties and allied candidates. A donation to one candidate in one state can land your details on a list used by another campaign somewhere else. Once you are on these lists, it is hard to get off.

Hide the texts

Your phone can filter messages from senders it does not know. This does not stop campaigns from texting you, but you will not see the messages in your main inbox.

On an iPhone, open Settings, tap Apps, then Messages, and scroll to Unknown Senders. Turn on Screen Unknown Senders to move those texts to a separate list. You can then adjust alerts with Text Message Filter. Filter Spam adds a second layer by moving spam to its own list.

On Android, open the Messages by Google app, tap the three dots in the top-right corner, and choose Settings. Tap Spam protection, then turn on Enable spam protection to filter spam and texts from unknown senders.

Block and report

• To block a number on iPhone, tap the sender, then tap Block Contact on the contact page.
• On Android, tap the sender, tap the Info ("i") icon or Details, then choose Block/report spam.
• Forward unwanted robotexts to 7726 or SPAM to report them to your wireless carrier.

Political texts are exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry, which is the government list people join to avoid sales calls. But campaigns still have to follow Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules. If you think a robocall or text broke them, you can file an informal complaint at fcc.gov/complaints, online, by mail or by phone.

Ask the campaign directly

You can also contact the campaign that is messaging you. Texts often come from campaign volunteers, so you can call and politely ask to be taken off the contact list. That should end messages from that campaign. If it does not, the FCC complaint is the next step.