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Indiana Democratic Party says text messages with incorrect polling place info caused by system error

Posted at 1:32 PM, Nov 07, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-07 14:21:09-05

Text messages sent out to voters with incorrect polling place information apparently originated from an error in the Indiana Democratic Party's get-out-the-vote text message program.

The Marion County Clerk's Office announced Monday afternoon is was launching a criminal investigation into text messages sent to voters with incorrect polling place information.

The office confirmed the investigation to Call 6 Investigator Rafael Sanchez Monday afternoon.

The clerk's office said it does not know the scope of the problem or who is behind it.

The Marion County Prosecutor's Office was also assisting in the investigation and encouraged anyone who received an incorrect text message to report it to the Marion County Election Board.

Shortly after the clerk's office's announcement, Indiana Democratic Party Communications Director Drew Anderson sent a statement to RTV6 saying the texts originated from their automated texting system and that the party was working to correct the error.

“The Indiana Democratic Party experienced a data-match error in our get-out-the-vote text message program to Democratic voters. We believe the error impacted less than 2,000 voters, informing them of an incorrect polling location. We are correcting the error now with a new message directing the voters impacted to www.indianavoters.com so that they are able to confirm their polling location. As the IDP has always done, we will continue to encourage all Hoosiers to participate in the election process and cast their ballots in tomorrow’s election, and we apologize for any inconvenience.”

You can check your polling station by calling 317-327-2150 or going online at www.indy.gov/VIP or www.indianavoters.com.