PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon's 2024 primary election is just a few days away, and that means the airwaves are loaded with campaign ads, mailboxes are full of campaign flyers and many residents' cellphones are probably blowing up with campaign texts.
The texts are an annoyance in every election year, and many Oregonians may be wondering if there's a way to stop them in advance, or to get themselves removed from individual campaign texting lists.
Here's what we can VERIFY:
THE QUESTION
Is it possible to fully block or opt out of all political texting?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
No, it is not possible to fully stop or prevent political texts. Individual campaigns may voluntarily remove you from their texting lists if you ask, but they're all allowed to send you unsolicited texts as long as they do it manually, without automated dialing software.
WHAT WE FOUND
Adding your number to the National Do Not Call Registry can protect you from telemarketers (though not from scammers), but the registry doesn't apply to other types of callers like charities or political campaigns. For landline users, that means there's no way to prevent political calls — but at least you don't have to worry about texts.
The Federal Communications Commission does prohibit unsolicited political calls or texts to cellphones if they're "robocalls" that are sent using automated dialing software. In those cases, it should be possible to stop texts from individual campaigns by replying with a word like STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE — and at least officially, campaigns shouldn't be able to send you those kinds of texts without getting your permission beforehand.
But if a political text is sent manually, without using autodialers, then it's legal even when unsolicited. Campaigns don't need your permission to start texting you, and there's nothing you can do in advance to prevent them. However, you can still ask individual campaigns to stop — the FCC webpage says campaigns "should honor opt-out requests."
It's worth noting that all of this only applies if the sender is a legitimate political campaign or group. If a text appears to be from a scam caller, then regardless of whether it's political in nature, it's better not to reply at all.
If you receive an unwanted political text that you think is violating the rules, you can report it to the FCC online or by forwarding it to SPAM (7726). You can also block individual numbers in your phone's settings, or set your phone to screen out all unrecognized numbers.
Got a question or a story about Portland or Oregon that you'd like us to VERIFY? Drop us a line at verify@kgw.com.
