Brentwood Commission Candidate's Mass Text Seems Suspect

BRENTWOOD, TN — Had John Byers just robo-called landlines, nobody would raise an eyebrow; unfortunately, he sent a mass text and he may well have violated federal regulations.

Byers, who is facing three incumbents for three seats on the Brentwood City Commission, sent two texts to 7,000 voters this week, informing them that early voting was wrapping up Wednesday and inviting them to a get-out-the-vote event.

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Even though Byers received the numbers from the publicly-available voter registration lists, his mass-text may have still violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a federal law which prohibits automated text or phone messages to cellular phones.

"One of those weird quirks is, if he'd picked up the phone and called each of those people individually, it would be perfectly legal," Nashville attorney Gerard Stranch told The Tennessean. "If he called a landline with an auto-dialer, it might be acceptable depending on the specific message. However, it would never be acceptable to use an auto-dialer to text or call a cell phone without prior express permission."

Byers told the newspaper in a statement that he was told by the Wilson County Election Commission and the Tennessee Secretary of State's office that the information on voter rolls is publicly available and can be used for any political purpose. The county election commission had no recollection of the conversation and the portion of state law Byers said the Secretary of State's office cited does not address permissible use of the voter list.