Suffering from a Textplosion? How to Make the Annoying Political Texts Stop!

Has your phone been blowing up with political text messages lately? I think I've gotten about a zillion messages so far, and they all read something like this:

This is a politician or public figure you might trust.

This message is the most important you'll ever get in your entire life. That other guy is a mess, and voting for him is going to make our country a big, fat, whopping mess. Send us your money! Support our campaign!

[Text STOP to opt out]

At this point, it doesn't matter who you plan to cast your ballot for. They're all wailing and flailing right now, all screaming (in text, anyway) about the looming end to America if the vote doesn't go "the right way."

The worst part: replying STOP only seems to send more messages our way. Adding the message to the spam filter doesn't seem to help. So what gives? Why are we suddenly being inundated with these messages—and can we make it stop?

READ: Protect Yourself From Gift Card Scams: A Cautionary Tale

Why Political Texts Will Get Worse in Arizona

If you're suddenly getting dozens of political text messages like the rest of us, brace yourself. It's going to get worse before it gets better.

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According to Robokiller.com, Americans received about 15 billion political texts during the mid-term election, a 158% jump from the previous year.

And this year is on track to smash that record. Why are we suddenly getting more text messages? Here are a few reasons:

• Younger voters are more likely to respond to text messages.
• It works, and more people communicate using text messages than ever before.
• More people block robocalls, but text messaging isn't throttled.

READ: Can Your Boss Legally Test You for Marijuana Use in Arizona?

How to Stop the Bombardment of Text Messages

If you're already tired of the onslaught of messages, Arizona voters are in for some bad news: it will get worse before it gets better.

In fact, an anticipated $820 million will be splashed on ads this cycle. According to ArizonaCapitalTimes.com, there has been a 64% spike over the 2020 election cycle. That makes the Grand Canyon State a prime target for ad blitzes.

How are Campaigns Getting Telephone Numbers in Arizona?

Most of the telephone numbers on the campaign lists are scraped from public records, curated, and then sold for pennies to the campaigns.

So, what can you do about all the spammy text messages?

You can keep playing "whack-a-mole" as they come in. Reply "STOP" to every message in your inbox. Your service provider likely already categorizes them as spam, but keep reporting them whenever possible. Let's be real: this is just the beginning. As we get closer to November, it will only get worse.

If you believe the hype, this is going to be the most critical vote in the history of America - and the world, so it's gonna be a doozy.

Stay strong, Arizona. November 6th will be here before we know it.