TCPA, 10DLC, consent, opt-outs, quiet hours, and state texting laws, the compliance rules every political campaign has to follow.
A national party committee got hit with a class action over text messages, and the allegation at its heart is the one campaigns violate most: texting people who'd already said stop. What the NRCC case teaches.
Gate every send to the recipient's local time, not yours. Quiet hours (8am-9pm) are measured where the voter is, so a national list can't go out in one blast, it has to be scheduled per time zone, or your platform has to stagger it automatically.
Consent doesn't have a hard federal expiration date, but a stale opt-in carries real risk. Here's how long texting consent lasts in practice, what can invalidate it, and why re-engaging an old list takes care.
Phone numbers get reassigned constantly, and texting the new owner of a number you had consent for is a real TCPA risk. Here's the reassigned-number problem, why it matters, and how to reduce the exposure.
Carriers monitor and can audit registered senders, and failing one means throttling or a ban. Here's what a carrier audit looks at, what triggers scrutiny, and how to keep your sending in good standing.
Text only donors and supporters who consented, keep the ask clear, route to a compliant donation page, and follow contribution-disclosure and solicitation rules. The texting rules (consent, STOP, quiet hours) apply exactly as they do to any other message.
No, not just because they're on your email list. Consent to email is not consent to text, and the standards differ. You need separate, documented permission to send texts (prior express written consent), even to people who opted in to emails.
Yes, to consented contacts, with the same texting rules as any campaign (consent, STOP, quiet hours). The twist is attribution, ballot-measure committees follow their state and local disclaimer rules, which differ from candidate and federal rules. Check your state.
Single opt-in adds someone the moment they subscribe; double opt-in confirms with a reply first. Here's the difference, the trade-off between list growth and list quality, and when each makes sense for a campaign.
Alongside STOP, texting programs must answer HELP with an identifying auto-reply. Here's what a HELP response has to include, why carriers require it, and how it fits with your opt-out handling.
Campaign and official texts can become public records or evidence, and retention rules apply beyond the TCPA. Here's how public-records and retention obligations touch political texting, and why keeping clean records protects you twice.
No lawsuit. No warning. Just a send that goes out and never arrives, in the final week, when there's no time left to fix it. How non-compliant campaigns go dark at the worst possible moment.