MILWAUKEE — We are less than two weeks away from Election Day and your phone might be buzzing with political texts and calls.
It’s crunch time for campaigns to secure voters, funds and volunteers.
"It's just on my nerves. They call my house phone, they call my cell phone, it's just annoying,” Milwaukee resident, Vonda Thrower said.
Thrower gets unwanted calls on both her cellphone and landline which makes it nearly impossible to escape.
"It's nerve-wracking. You know you could be doing something in your house, doing laundry or dishes or something and you think it’s an important phone call and it's them,” Thrower explained.
Watch: Residents frustrated with political texts, calls flooding their phones
The campaign groups can secure phone numbers through various ways including purchasing phone lists from various companies.
“Every week we get a phone call,” Thrower said.
Ed Ott who is visiting Milwaukee from Pennsylvania for a work trip tells TMJ4 that the calls and texts are getting out of hand.
“I get up to a dozen a day during the daytime,” Ott said.
TMJ4 asked Ott if he replies “STOP” to the political texts.
He said, “No, because I'm afraid if I touch that then they're going to get something out of me. So I just don't touch it and delete it."
According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), “Campaigns should also honor opt-out requests if you reply "STOP."
However, this doesn’t put a stop to all of the texts.
"But that's going to be stopping this particular campaign. Other campaigns going to be coming your way whether you want it or not,” Chief Information Security Officer at Hold Security, Alex Holden explained.
Holden said it’s tough to stop all of these calls and messages from coming in.
"I guess we just need to brace ourselves and wait this out because there is no magic button to turn off,” Holden explained.
However, he does recommend reporting these calls and texts to the FCC.
Here are the ways you can file a complaint:
- File a complaint online at https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov
- By phone: 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322); ASL: 1-844-432-2275
- By mail (please include your name, address, contact information and as much detail about your complaint as possible):
Federal Communications CommissionConsumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau
45 L Street NE
Washington, DC 20554
Find out where to vote, what's on your ballot, and much more on TMJ4's elections page here.
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