Ping!
Voters are growing tired of the nonstop stream of campaign calls and text messages, according to a new poll — and many say candidates who go too far could pay a price at the polls.
A nationwide survey conducted by phone number management company NumberBarn found that Americans receive an average of 13 political calls or texts each week as campaigns intensify their outreach ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3.
Six out of 10 respondents described the volume of political messaging as excessive compared with previous election cycles.
Among the survey’s key findings:
“Trust may be one of the biggest challenges facing political outreach,” NumberBarn said in its analysis of the results.
The company noted that 79% of Americans do not trust the accuracy of information delivered through political calls and texts. While campaign outreach is unlikely to vanish, the findings suggest that flooding voters with messages does not automatically create greater influence, trust or engagement.
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Some Americans have responded to the campaign contact surge by taking more aggressive steps to shut it out.
Twenty-six percent said they had paid a one-time fee to permanently block campaign calls and texts, while 57% reported that they no longer answer calls from unfamiliar numbers.
Another 23% use a phone setting that silences unknown callers. During the busiest part of election season, 10% said they switch off their phones or activate “Do Not Disturb,” and 3% said they went as far as changing their phone number.
More than half of respondents, 51%, believe political texts should go only to people who have opted in. An additional 20% said campaigns need to cut back substantially on the number of messages they send.
“As Americans grow accustomed to screening unknown numbers, blocking spam texts and questioning the source of every message — whether it comes from a candidate, a scammer or AI — reaching a voter’s phone may be easier, but earning that voter’s attention is the real challenge,” the analysis concluded.
In September 2026, NumberBarn surveyed 1,006 U.S. adults to gauge how Americans view political calls, text messages, and other election-related communication ahead of the 2026 midterm election. It has a margin of error plus or minus percentage points.
NumberBarn is a telecommunications service provider specializing in phone number management, including purchasing, parking, transferring and forwarding phone numbers.