NC elections board looking into possible texting scam

The State Board of Elections is investigating "a possible scam targeting North Carolinians," it said in a news release Thursday.

People have been getting unsolicited text messages about their registration status or asking them to register to vote, the board said in a news release. Numerous people reported the texts, which included an embedded link.

Board staff said people should not click the link and suggested deleting the message.

The link looks like a real website connecting to vote.org, but officials there confirmed they aren't sending the messages, board spokesman Patrick Gannon said.

“We know these texts can be confusing to voters, and we take this situation very seriously,” State Board of Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said in an emailed release. “We urge all North Carolinians to get information about voting and voter registration from trusted, reliable sources, including your state and county boards of elections.”

Voters can check their registration status online with the state's voter lookup site.

Senior multiplatform producer Valerie Aguirre contributed to this report.