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Election officials say to ignore text message warning voters their vote did not count

Posted at 9:51 PM, Oct 24, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-24 23:20:43-04

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A text message sent to voters across the state of Kansas is causing confusion and forcing election officials to ask voters to disregard the text.

The text message appears to come from several different phone numbers that are no longer working. It claims to be a message from President Trump, warning voters their early vote has not been recorded.

Some voters reported getting the text message the day after they voted absentee. 

Others say they are confused why they received the text message in the first place. 

"I don't know why I got it sent to me. I just was kind of confused," said TJ Kilian, who received the text message Wednesday. 

41 Action News reached out to both county and state election officials. 

Bryan Caskey, the director of elections for Kansas, called this text concerning. He is warning voters to contact their local election board if they have questions or concerns. 

"I can't speak for the veracity of any third-party, including whoever is behind these text messages. I don't know who it is and I don't trust anyone who is not coming from an official source," he said. 

The Johnson County Election Commission is advising voters who received the messages to ignore them. 

According to Caskey, voter information is considered public record. So third-parties can access voter information, such as cell phone numbers and addresses by going through voting records.