7 Months In Prison For Trying To Trick Voters Into ‘Voting By Text’

Douglass Mackey, 34, was sentenced to 7 months in prison today for his efforts in 2016 to trick people into thinking they could “vote” for Hillary Clinton by text message, attempting to suppress her supporters’ votes. Another case to file under “F*cked around, found out.” Mackey, who used the name “Ricky Vaughn” on Twitter in 2016, was found guilty of the charge of Conspiracy Against Rights at trial by a federal jury in March 2023. https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1714697659322097853 From the Justice Department:

As proven at trial, by 2016, Mackey had established an audience on Twitter with approximately 58,000 followers. A February 2016 analysis by the MIT Media Lab ranked Mackey as one of the most significant influencers of the then-upcoming presidential election.

Between September 2016 and November 2016, Mackey conspired with other influential Twitter users and with members of private online groups to use social media platforms, including Twitter, to disseminate fraudulent messages that encouraged supporters of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to “vote” via text message or social media which was legally invalid.

For example, on November 1, 2016, in or around the same time that Mackey was sending tweets suggesting the importance of limiting “black turnout,” the defendant tweeted an image depicting an African American woman standing in front of an “African Americans for Hillary” sign.

The ad stated: “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home,” “Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925,” and “Vote for Hillary and be a part of history.” The fine print at the bottom of the deceptive image stated: “Must be 18 or older to vote. One vote per person. Must be a legal citizen of the United States. Voting by text not available in Guam, Puerto Rico, Alaska or Hawaii. Paid for by Hillary For President 2016.”

The tweet included the typed hashtag “#ImWithHer,” a slogan frequently used by Hillary Clinton.

On or about and before Election Day 2016, thousands of unique telephone numbers texted “Hillary” or some derivative to the 59925 text number, which had been used in multiple deceptive campaign images tweeted by Mackey and his co-conspirators.

Mackey sent another fraudulent image from his “Ricky Vaughn” account written in Spanish with a font mimicking similar typography used by the Clinton campaign. Mackey will also serve two years of supervised probation once he’s released from prison. Far-right loon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is oh-so-upset about the charges, conviction, and sentence. She’s been trying to play the whole thing off as “free speech.” https://twitter.com/JoJoFromJerz/status/1714698326916952134

Marge says Mackey’s sentence for trying to trick black and Hispanic voters into thinking they could vote by text is an injustice. pic.twitter.com/3gZylBtn1W

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 18, 2023