Social networks revolutionized political communication, for good and bad. Hoaxes and misinformation began to circulate at full speed on the Internet and have interfered in several electoral processes. With the advancement of technology and the ability of artificial intelligence to create false images and impersonate people with the appearance of reality, the danger multiplies. The threats have crystallized in New Hampshire, which holds primary elections for the presidency of the United States this Tuesday. The Prosecutor’s Office is investigating complaints of calls that impersonated the President of the United States, Joe Biden, with the aim of interfering in the elections.
The attorney general’s office announced Monday that it has received complaints regarding a recorded message encouraging voters not to vote. The message, which was sent on January 21, 2024, said: “Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday.” Although the voice in the robocall sounds like that of President Biden, this message appears to have been artificially generated, according to the first indications, the Prosecutor’s Office says.
According to the same source, the message appears to have been doctored to falsely show that it had been sent by the treasurer of a political committee that has been supporting efforts to vote for Biden in the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary. Biden does not appear on the official ballots due to a disagreement by the Democratic Party with the primary calendar that led him to not register on time. Despite this, voters can write their name by hand in a blank box on the ballot and Biden supporters are mobilizing to convey that message to citizens.
Biden’s non-appearance on the ballots is fertile ground for these calls of unknown origin that discourage people from going to vote. “These messages appear to be an illegal attempt to disrupt the New Hampshire presidential primary elections and suppress voters,” the Prosecutor’s Office says in a statement. “New Hampshire voters should completely ignore the content of this message. Voting in the New Hampshire presidential primary does not preclude a voter from also voting in the November general election,” she adds.
The prosecutor’s office has announced that the unit in charge of electoral affairs has launched an investigation. Additionally, recipients of this message are encouraged to send an email to the Department of Justice’s Election Law Unit ([email protected]) identifying the date and time they received the call or message, the origin, the content and any other relevant information.
Although Biden is not on the ballot, all polls show him as a sure winner. The unknown is the weight that the fact that voters have to write their name by hand may have. Second in the polls is Congressman Dean Phillips, but by a huge distance. A tight result would be a blow for the president.
In New Hampshire, the Democratic and Republican primaries are held simultaneously. The Republicans, who with the withdrawal of Ron DeSantis, have become a one-on-one between Donald Trump and Nikki Haley, are the ones who have the most interest, because they can almost sentence the former president’s nomination. In the Democratic primaries, Biden does not have any major rival. Furthermore, the Democratic Party does not in principle assign delegates to the winners of this Tuesday’s elections due to the aforementioned disagreement over the calendar.
In the New Hampshire primary, voters registered as Republicans can vote in their party’s primaries and Democrats can vote in theirs, but independents, not registered in either party, can vote in either party.
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