Texts with incorrect NYS primary polling sites information sent to Democrats
An example of the text messages sent out over the weekend by VoteFTW, a national progressive group, in an effort to increase voter turnout for the primary elections. The group acknowledged that some of the messages had incorrect polling site information. Credit: NYS Board of Elections
ALBANY — Text messages with incorrect poll site information were sent to registered Democrats across the state by a national progressive group that aimed to increase voter participation ahead of Tuesday's primary.
The messages, sent by VoteFTW over the weekend, included the voter’s name, an image and the address of their polling site, and a link to the state’s website to verify their polling site.
Some of the messages, however, had incorrect polling locations because of a database error, the group said in a statement.
One message to a Long Island resident, for example, directed them to a poll site outside Syracuse.
“We take full responsibility for this mistake. Upon discovering the error, we promptly issued a correction text directing voters again to their official poll lookup tool,” VoteFTW said.
The correction text, which was sent out on Monday, directed voters to the state’s voter lookup application to find their poll site.
The texting error comes as voters head to the polls from 6 a.m to 9 p.m. on Tuesday for the primary election for various federal, state and local offices — including many contentious congressional primaries.
The New York State Board of Elections on Monday warned voters to be cautious of text messages sent by outside groups and reminded them to get information on elections and poll sites from state or county boards of elections.
“We want all eligible voters to cast their vote tomorrow and to feel confident doing so,” said Kristen Zebrowski Stavisky, co-executive director of the state Board of Elections, in a statement.
The state board has been in contact with VoteFTW’s parent company and has confirmed that it has stopped sending messages with incorrect information, board spokeswoman Kathleen McGrath said.
“We remain committed to ensuring voters have accurate poll site information in advance of tomorrow’s Primary Election,” she said.
Voters can visit the state’s voter lookup application here: https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/.
-- With Yancey Roy.
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