Don’t Trust Texts Saying You’re Not Registered to Vote. Here’s What to Do Instead

Text messages that appear to be from a conservative political organization are circulating in some California counties asking people to check their voter registration, prompting warnings of a potential scam from Contra Costa County elections officials.

Although the messages seem to contain a link to the California Secretary of State’s website and don’t appear to be threatening, officials warned that residents should not click links or respond to texts regarding their voter status.

“We don’t have any reason to believe that the link itself is dangerous, but since county elections offices and the [secretary of state] are the only parties able to access real-time voter data, we urged our voters to exercise caution and reach out to one of those two official sources if they believe that they are a registered voter and want to confirm,” Erin Clausen, a spokesperson for the San Luis Obispo County clerk-recorder, told KQED.

Instead of responding to potential spam, here’s how to safely check your voter registration and what you should know to avoid getting duped.

What to watch for around potential text scams

The texts appear to be from Fix California, a San Diego-based conservative political organization, according to representatives of multiple counties.

The message said that the recipient’s “voter registration appears inactive” and that they can click on an embedded link to the secretary of state’s website to register.

“Time is running out to register to vote. It takes less than two minutes. You can now register online at the California Secretary of State’s website,” part of the message reads.

Donna Johnston, Sutter County’s clerk-recorder, said that the messages appear to be coming from Fix California, an organization led by former Trump administration Cabinet member Ric Grenell that is “committed to pursuing long-term solutions that advance conservative ideas and causes throughout the state,” according to its website.

Fix California could not be reached for comment.

It’s unclear how the group is gathering voter information, but multiple county clerk recorder’s offices said that many of the people who reported getting the messages were registered to vote.

How to safely check your voter registration

Most municipalities have their own websites for checking voter registration and information. Bay Area residents should refer to Contra Costa, Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Marin, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties’ specific election information websites.

The California Secretary of State also has a site — voterstatus.sos.ca.gov — where any California voter can check their registration, get information about upcoming elections and polling places and find out how to contact their local elections office.

Scams targeting voters are more common during election years, but it is not common practice for elections offices to contact people via text message, Contra Costa County deputy clerk-recorder Tommy Gong told KQED. He said it is always best for people to rely on their local registrar’s office as their first source of information for voting-related questions.

KQED’s Spencer Whitney contributed to this report.