UNITED STATES, — Like every election, the 2024 presidential election comes with door knocks, lots of campaign mail, phone calls, and plenty of text messages.
Some messages look real while others may not.
A 13WMAZ viewer, Chris Williams reached out to our Verify the Vote team about this text message he received.
THE QUESTION
Can campaigns pay people to make phone calls about candidates?
THE SOURCES
Gabriel Sterling, Chief Operating Officer at the Georgia Secretary of States Office.
Lori Ringhand, Law professor at the University of Georgia School of Law.
THE ANSWER
Yes, is it legal for campaigns to pay people to make calls about a candidate.
WHAT WE FOUND
We called the phone number attached to the phone and the call said "User Busy." We found a website related to Turnout the Vote and it was a form saying you could earn up to $200 to be a paid ambassador. The deadline appears to have ended on Oct. 27.
Sterling says while this is 100% legal to pay people to make phone calls, it is illegal is paying people to vote.
"We want to pay you $100 to go vote for candidate X. That's illegal. Or we want to give you a free turkey for voting for candidate X also illegal. I mean, you can't offer anything of value for a person's vote. That is where it becomes illegal," Sterling said.
Ringhand says these messages are similar to paid social influencers.
"Certain people, canvassers in politics are often paid to go door to door. It's like being a member of the campaign staff. Of course, those people go door to door all the time and are paid. The line between paying for a vote versus paying for someone who's trying to get out the vote is an important one and it looks like this. Solicitation is the latter not the former," Ringhand said.