Kansas election officials are reviewing text messages claiming to be from President Donald Trump and telling residents that their early votes hadn’t been recorded, as Democratic leaders were quick Thursday to worry that they were part of efforts to “steal” a close governor’s race. State Elections Director Bryan Caskey said the Kansas secretary of state’s office received 50 or 60 calls about the texts Wednesday, mostly from the northeastern part of the state. Caskey said the office is trying to determine whether the texts broke a law before determining what to do next. One text says “Your absentee ballot is ready. Remember to vote for Pres. Trump’s allies.” A follow-up text says, “This is President Trump. Your early vote has NOT been RECORDED on Kansas’s roster.” It urges the voter to confirm his or her polling place.
Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, and Kansas House Minority Leader Jim Ward, a Wichita Democrat, said during a Statehouse news conference that they worry the texts are confusing voters because at least a few Democrats received them. Ward said some new voters may conclude that the voting process is too complicated and give up.
“The whole purpose of sending it out is to sow confusion,” Ward said. “Remember, we’re talking about an election that can be determined by 300 or 400 votes. So, 50 here, 50 there, 50 there, pretty soon, you’ve stolen an election.”
Full Article: Texts to voters purportedly from Trump roil Kansas election.