How to Stop Political Text Messages on iPhone and Android

To stop political text messages from a real campaign, reply STOP. Under FCC rules, a campaign that texts you through an autodialer needs your prior consent and has to honor an opt-out. If a political text has a strange link, asks for money or personal details, or keeps coming after you opted out, don’t reply: block the number, report it as spam, and forward it to 7726. Then turn on your phone’s unknown-sender filter so the next wave lands in a separate folder.

Today, November 3, 2026, is Election Day for the US midterms, and the final-week flood is real. Voters in central Pennsylvania told CBS 21 on November 2 that they delete 30 to 40 political texts a day, and the FBI has warned that scammers are using candidates’ names, slogans and AI-generated messages to target voters. This guide covers which texts STOP works on, the exact iPhone and Android settings, how to report a campaign that breaks the rules, and how to tell a campaign text from a scam. We checked each step against the FCC’s political robotext guide and Apple’s and Google’s support pages on November 3, 2026.

Before you start

You’ll need: your phone and about 5 minutes
Works on: iPhone (iOS 26 and iOS 27 Messages) and Android phones using Google Messages
Key rule: reply STOP only to texts that clearly name a real campaign or committee and contain nothing suspicious
Never: donate or “confirm your registration” through a link in an unexpected text

Why you get so many political texts

Political calls and texts are exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry, so adding your number there does nothing for campaign messages. What the law does cover is how the texts are sent. According to the FCC, political texts sent to a mobile phone with an autodialer require your prior express consent, and you can revoke that consent “in any reasonable manner,” such as replying STOP.

The catch is that texts sent manually need no prior consent. Many campaigns use peer-to-peer texting platforms, where a volunteer or staffer taps Send on each message. Those texts can reach you legally even if you never signed up, which is why some keep arriving from a different number each time.

Step 1: Reply STOP to texts from real campaigns

This is the fastest fix for legitimate senders, and it works on any phone.

Open the text and check that it names a specific candidate, campaign committee or PAC, and that any link points to a domain that matches that name.
Reply with the single word STOP. Many platforms send back a short confirmation.
If the same campaign texts you again from another number, reply STOP there too.
Keep a screenshot of your STOP reply and the date. You will need it if you file a complaint later.

Skip this step for anything that looks off. Replying to a scammer tells them your number is active and read by a person. Go straight to Step 2.

Step 2: Report and block the sender

Reporting helps your carrier and Apple or Google spot mass senders. Blocking stops that one number. Do both for scams and for campaigns that ignore STOP.

On iPhone

Open Messages. For a message from an unknown sender you’ve opened, tap Report Spam at the bottom of the conversation, then tap Delete and Report Spam. For an unopened one, swipe left on it, tap the trash button, then Delete and Report Spam.
To block a number instead, open the conversation, tap the sender’s icon at the top, tap Info, scroll down and tap Block Contact.

Apple notes two limits: you can’t report a message after you’ve replied to it, and reporting alone doesn’t stop the sender. If the Report Spam option is missing for SMS, your carrier may not support it.

On Android (Google Messages)

Open Google Messages.
Touch and hold the conversation.
Tap Block, then Report spam, then OK.

Inside a conversation, the same option is under More options > Details > Block & report spam. Google says a report sends the sender’s number and the last 10 messages from them to Google, and may forward a copy to your carrier. Samsung Messages and other carrier apps have their own block options in each conversation’s menu.

On any phone: forward to 7726

The FCC tells people who receive political texts they didn’t ask for to forward them to 7726 (the digits spell SPAM). Long-press the message, choose Forward, send it to 7726, and reply with the sender’s number if your carrier asks for it.

Step 3: Filter texts from unknown numbers

Filtering doesn’t block anything. It moves texts from numbers you’ve never contacted into a separate list, so your main inbox stays usable until the season ends.

iPhone: Screen Unknown Senders

Open Messages and tap the filter button at the top of the conversation list.
Tap Manage Filtering and turn on Screen Unknown Senders.
Tap Allow Notifications and turn on categories you still want alerts for, such as time-sensitive texts like verification codes. Options vary by country.
Check that Filter spam is on in the same screen. Apple turns it on by default.

Filtered texts sit in the Unknown Senders list, where you can tap Mark as Known for anything legitimate. Apple says text filtering doesn’t apply to a sender you’ve replied to three or more times, so block those instead.

Android: Spam and scam protection

Open Google Messages and tap your profile picture or initials at the top right.
Tap Messages settings > Protection & Safety > Spam and scam protection.
Choose Enhanced protection or Standard protection. Google says Enhanced can also analyze messages in its Private AI Compute environment. If you don’t see the setting, your device doesn’t offer it yet.

Which fix to use for which text

Text you received	Best action	Why
Named campaign, normal link, first contact	Reply STOP	Autodialed senders must honor it
Same campaign after you replied STOP	Block, report, keep screenshots	May be a rule violation worth an FCC complaint
“You’re not registered to vote” with a link	Don’t reply; report and delete	A known FBI-flagged phishing pattern
Asks for a donation “investment” or promises returns	Don’t reply; report and delete	The FBI says donations are never investments
Lots of texts from numbers you’ve never seen	Turn on unknown-sender filtering	Keeps the inbox clear without blocking each number

How to report a campaign that breaks the rules

If a campaign sent autodialed texts without your consent, or kept texting after you replied STOP, you can file an informal complaint with the FCC at consumercomplaints.fcc.gov or by phone at 1-888-225-5322. Include the sending number, the dates, the message text and the screenshot of your STOP reply.

The same guide covers voice calls: the FCC has ruled that AI-generated voices count as “artificial” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which makes cloned-voice robocalls illegal in many cases. Prerecorded political calls must state who is calling at the start and give a callback number.

Political texts that are really scams

The FBI’s 2026 election-season warning, reported by USA Today on November 2, lists several money-focused schemes: fake PAC or campaign donation requests where the scammer keeps the money, “campaign investment pools” that promise a payout if a candidate wins, political merchandise that never ships, and texts claiming you aren’t registered to vote. The FBI also warns that scammers now use AI to produce realistic voices, images and messages impersonating candidates and officials.

Check your registration only through vote.gov or your state election office, never through a texted link. Our guide to the “not registered to vote” text scam walks through the full check.
Donate by typing the campaign’s address yourself, not by tapping a link in a text.
Treat calls from “agents” demanding payment the same way: see how to spot a fake FBI agent call.
The red flags overlap with delivery scams: mismatched domains, urgency and requests for payment. Our fake delivery text checklist applies here too.

FAQ

Will political texts stop after Election Day?

Volume usually drops once voting closes, but nothing in the rules requires it. Runoffs, recounts and post-election fundraising can keep messages coming, and your number stays on any list it’s already on. Replying STOP to each real campaign is the only way to get off its list.

Does replying STOP confirm my number to scammers?

It can. A STOP reply to a legitimate campaign is safe, but a reply of any kind to a scam text shows the number is live. If you’re unsure who sent it, report and delete instead.

Can I add my number to the Do Not Call Registry to block political texts?

No. The FCC says political calls and texts are exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry. Consent and opt-out rules still apply to autodialed messages.

Why do I get texts from a new number every time?

Texting platforms often spread messages across many numbers. That’s why blocking one number rarely ends the stream and why the unknown-sender filter in Step 3 works better.

Related guides

Sources

Menu names were checked against Apple’s iOS 27 guide and Google’s Messages help on November 3, 2026. Carrier apps and older Android versions may label these settings differently. Next step: turn on unknown-sender filtering now, then spend two minutes replying STOP to the campaigns you recognize.

How to Stop Political Text Messages on iPhone and Android

Why you get so many political texts

Step 1: Reply STOP to texts from real campaigns