There’s a new ad circulating on Twitter which informs people that they can vote via text message and “avoid the line.” The ads feature African-American models and some are in Spanish, meaning they are clearly directed at minority groups who traditionally tend to vote Democratic. In other words, it’s just the latest dirty trick from Donald Trump and the Republicans.
What was Twitter’s response to these ads? They initially said the ads don’t violate their Terms of Service, so hey, feel free:
Twitter just informed me that attempting to disenfranchise voters is not a violation of their Terms of Service. @jack @Support pic.twitter.com/YXVdt8sHwA
— Robert McNees (@mcnees) November 2, 2016
Allow me a moment of clarity here: You CANNOT vote via the internet, via text message, email, fax or other electronic device. It is not legal in any state. You CAN vote via absentee ballot, but those have to be sent and delivered via the United States Postal Service.
But here’s a larger question: Is telling people to vote via text message illegal? Election law expert Stephen J. Kaufman told LawNewz it might be:
“I would argue that these twitter ads could be illegal under state statutes that prohibit fraudulent attempts to prevent someone from voting at the polls. By fraudulently inducing voters into casting their ballots by text message or thinking they can cast their ballots by text on election day, the perpetrators may be prohibiting voters from voting at the polls or by mail.”
When the media got ahold of the news that the fake ads were all over social media, Twitter did finally ban them, but it took them several hours to respond in a proactive manner.
Should you decided to send a text to the number listed on the ads, here’s what you get back:
“The ad you saw was not approved by iVisionMobile OR Hillary for America in any way.”
There’s also no way one can conclusively prove the GOP or Trump campaign are directly behind the Twitter ads, but ask yourself this question: Do you have any trouble believing they might have had a hand in it? Is there anything Trump won’t do to win? The man is a con artist and will stoop to any level. So whoever spawned these ads, please know you failed and the jig is up.
This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org