SLO County voters are getting mysterious texts about their registration. What’s going on?

The San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder’s Office is warning about a text message scam that claims the recipient’s voter registration status is inactive or subject to cancellation.

“This week we received some calls (around a half-dozen) and at least two in-person visits from voters who had received texts stating that their voter registration ‘appears inactive,’” Erin Clausen, public information officer for the Clerk-Recorder’s Office, told The Tribune.

Clausen said that often, these text messages will direct voters to register with the California Secretary of State’s Office.

However, Clausen said, unless the information is verifiably coming from the Secretary of State’s Office or the SLO County Clerk-Recorder’s office, statements about voter rolls are not accurate.

“We wanted to remind SLO County residents that official communication regarding voter registration status comes from the Secretary or State or from our office, and that it does not come by text,” Clausen told The Tribune.

These messages come on the heels of a wave of misinformation in SLO County regarding election safety and the LGBTQ+ community.

According to Clausen, in all the cases that were reported to the Clerk-Recorder’s Office, the voters who were told their registration was inactive were in fact registered.

Clausen reminded voters that just because a text message urges voters to register through official channels does not mean that the sender is legitimate or working with up-to-date information.

Clausen said that the Clerk-Recorder’s Office heard from colleagues in other counties that this was happening to their constituents as well.

Clausen urged voters to reach out to the Clerk-Recorder’s Office if they receive information from unverified sources.

“When in doubt, call our office and have us look up your voter record and confirm things for you,” SLO County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano said in the news release.