Nearly 1.4 million Michigan residents have already voted in the election, including more than 1.1 million who cast absentee ballots. But voting early has not spared residents from a steady stream of campaign texts, phone calls, emails and social media advertisements.
Voters interviewed at a polling site in Lincoln Park said political messaging has become difficult to escape, with campaign appeals arriving throughout the day across multiple platforms.
“YouTube, Facebook, I get the text messages, I get the emails,” Lincoln Park voter Zanita Clipper said.
Dennis Roe also noticed an increase in campaign advertising and said he was tired of the constant outreach.
Sarena Krupa of Lincoln Park described receiving political messages and calls several times a day.
“It’s probably 5 times a day, text messages, and then maybe 5 phone calls a day,” Krupa said.
Other voters said the advertising has become especially noticeable on their phones, where texts and emails continue to arrive as Election Day approaches.
“I’d say mainly on the phone, text and emails, and I’ll be glad that it’s over,” Rowe said.
The flood of campaign messaging has also taken over social media feeds, leaving some voters frustrated by the volume of political content from both parties.
“Mostly ads. It’s both parties and it goes all day long. Just scrolling and see it nonstop,” Lincoln Park voter Rob Pugno said.
Michigan Senate Race Sees More Than $243 Million in Spending
The advertising surge comes as spending in Michigan’s Senate race has reportedly exceeded $243 million, contributing to the volume of political messages reaching voters across the state.
Dr. Aradhna Krishna, the Dwight F. Benton Professor of Marketing at the University of Michigan, said text messages can feel particularly intrusive because recipients often have limited ways to filter communications from unfamiliar numbers.
“Texts are especially problematic because most people do not have a filtering mechanism for unknown numbers,” Krishna said.
However, the growing volume of campaign outreach does not necessarily mean the messages are changing voters’ minds.
Krishna said the sheer amount of political persuasion taking place during the final stretch of the campaign makes it difficult to determine whether additional advertising is having a meaningful effect.
“That’s a tough one to answer because especially right now, there is so much overload and burnout with persuasive campaigns that I don’t think it is adding much,” Krishna said.
Why Campaign Messages Continue Before Election Day
Despite voter frustration, campaigns have reasons to keep communicating with the public until voting concludes.
According to Krishna, many voters have likely already made their decisions by this stage of the race. Campaigns may therefore be focusing on encouraging supporters to cast their ballots and persuading the smaller group of voters who remain undecided.
“Most of these messages are trying to make sure people do go to the polls to cast their ballot, and they’re trying to sway maybe the tiny piece, tiny little slice of what’s left that’s still undecided,” Krishna said.
For many Lincoln Park voters, however, the constant stream of political advertising has become exhausting.
Krupa said she was ready for the messages to stop, while Clipper expressed similar frustration when asked whether she wanted the election to be over.
“Yes, I can’t wait until November 4th,” Clipper said.
Michigan Officials Urge Voters to Return Absentee Ballots in Person
With nearly 1 million absentee ballots reportedly still unreturned, Michigan election officials urged voters to take steps to ensure their ballots arrive before the deadline.
The Secretary of State’s office advised voters whose absentee ballots have not yet been mailed to consider delivering them directly to their local ballot drop box rather than relying on the mail.
As Election Day approaches, the combination of unreturned absentee ballots and continued campaign outreach underscores the final push to get voters to participate.
For residents already overwhelmed by political advertising, the election’s conclusion cannot come soon enough.
Editor’s note: This story was originally reported on-air by a journalist and adapted for this platform with the assistance of AI. The editorial team verifies reporting across platforms for fairness and accuracy.
