Wisconsin college students targeted by groups with threatening texts and fake ad campaigns

The text messages imply students are not eligible to vote here—when they probably are. Also: An anonymous campaign uses the war in Gaza to try to trick young voters into voting against Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

With Wisconsin potentially having the most active batch of young adult voters in the country (again), it’s not surprising that they are being heavily targeted—by candidates, by parties, by interest groups, and by nefarious and anonymous people trying to fool them into not voting the way they had planned.

One familiar tactic involves text messaging to college students that they may face criminal prosecution if they vote, based on a false claim that students currently living beyond their original hometowns or states cannot vote where they’re currently living.

“Do not listen to these text messages,” said Matthew Lehner, chair of the College Democrats of Wisconsin, on UpNorthNews Radio. “If you get these text messages, report it to the Wisconsin Elections Commission because it’s voter intimidation.”

Students can register where they reside

Wisconsin law is clear on voter residency: Someone who resides in a particular election ward for the 28 days prior to an election is an eligible voter in that ward. Student status is not a factor. On-campus polling places have housing lists that confirm student residency.

Circumstances may give some students a choice—they may decide to continue voting back in their hometowns or they can vote in the place where they currently reside (just not both).

“I make the case to encourage students to vote in Wisconsin,” Lehner said. “College students live most of their time here, spend most of their time here. If you work in the state of Wisconsin, you pay taxes here. And so it’s important to have your voice heard.”

The encouragement is working. In 2022, Wisconsin reported 48.7% voter turnout among the 588,000 people in the state aged 18-24.

“If young people get out in record numbers as we did in 2022 and 2023, we will be the difference in this election,” Lehner said. “And so, if you’re a college student, just know you have the impact to make a decision on who gets in the White House.”

Lehner also noted the difference college students can make for control of Congress. In one example, students attending UW schools in Eau Claire, Stout, River Falls, La Crosse, and Platteville all live within or near the 3rd Congressional District, which features a toss-up race between Republican US Rep. Derrick Van Orden and Democrat Rebecca Cooke. 

Shadowy campaign to fool young adult voters

Even once young voters have overcome suppression tactics, they are also liable to be bombarded with misinformation. As first reported by the FWIW newsletter (part of Courier Newsroom, parent company to UpNorthNews), a last-minute campaign was begun recently by an anonymous group targeting young adults with messages that appear to be pro-Gaza and urging recipients to vote against Democratic candidates, such as Sen. Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin.

The SuperPAC running the campaign filed its organizing paperwork on October 16, the first day that new political action committees do not have to disclose their donors until after the election. 

Last week, the group reported spending $247,000 on digital ads targeting Baldwin with messages that said things like, “No to Tammy. No to genocide.” More than $340,000 has been spent on a similar campaign in Arizona against the Democratic US Senate candidate, US Rep. Ruben Gallego—with a message to support the Green Party candidate in the race. But candidate Eduardo Quintana has denounced the campaign.

Similar ads on Snapchat led to the discovery of a possible clue on who’s funding the group. According to the Snap Political Ads Library, the group is using targeting data provided by i360, which is a Koch brothers-backed data vendor popular among conservatives. 

Lehner said he has not seen instances of this particular program but was not surprised to learn about it.

“When it comes to Gaza, this is more of the same dirty tricks from people with a lot of money and a lot of power trying to influence the hearts and minds of young people by using misinformation.”

It’s not the first campaign trying to fool voters about the Mideast conflict. A SuperPAC with Republican ties is playing both sides of the war—targeting Jewish voters with messages that say Vice President Kamala Harris isn’t pro-Israel while also targeting Muslim voters with ads that claim Harris is a staunch ally of Isreael.