The New Hampshire attorney general’s office on Monday said it was investigating reports of a robocall that used artificial intelligence to mimic President Biden’s voice and discourage voters in the state from coming to the polls during Tuesday’s primary election.
Attorney General John Formella said the recorded message, which was sent to multiple voters on Sunday, appears to be an illegal attempt to disrupt and suppress voting. He said voters “should disregard the contents of this message entirely.”
A recording of the call reviewed by The Associated Press generates a voice similar to Mr. Biden’s that includes his often-used phrase, “What a bunch of malarkey.” It then tells the listener to “save your vote for the November election.”
“Voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again,” the voice mimicking Mr. Biden says. “Your vote makes a difference in November, not this Tuesday.”
It is not true that voting in Tuesday’s primary precludes voters from casting a ballot in November’s general election. Mr. Biden is not campaigning in New Hampshire and his name will not appear on Tuesday’s primary ballot after he elevated South Carolina to the lead-off position for the Democratic primaries, but his allies are running a write-in campaign for him in the state.
It’s not known who is behind the calls. They falsely showed up to recipients as coming from the personal cellphone number of Kathy Sullivan, a former state Democratic Party chair who helps run a super PAC supporting the Biden write-in campaign.
Ms. Sullivan said she alerted law enforcement and issued a complaint to the attorney general after multiple voters reported receiving the call Sunday night.
“This call links back to my personal cell phone number without my permission,” she said in a statement. “It is outright election interference, and clearly an attempt to harass me and other New Hampshire voters who are planning to write-in Joe Biden on Tuesday.”
It was unclear how many people received the call. The attorney general’s office said anyone who has received the call should email the state Justice Department’s election law unit.
Mr. Biden’s campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, said the campaign is “actively discussing additional actions to take immediately.”
The Trump campaign said it had nothing to do with the recording.
The apparent attempt at voter suppression using rapidly advancing generative AI technology is one example of what experts warn will make 2024 a year of unprecedented election disinformation around the world.
Generative AI deepfakes already appeared in campaign ads in the 2024 presidential race, and the technology has been misused to spread misinformation in multiple elections across the globe.
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