Election

Social Media Influencer Douglass Mackey Convicted of Election Interference in 2016 Presidential Race

Defendant Attempted to Suppress Vote Through Social Media Disinformation Campaign

Douglass Mackey, also known as “Ricky Vaughn,” was convicted today by a federal jury in Brooklyn of the charge of Conspiracy Against Rights stemming from his scheme to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote.  The verdict followed a one-week trial before United States District Judge Ann M. Donnelly.  When sentenced, Mackey faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the verdict.

“Mackey has been found guilty by a jury of his peers of attempting to deprive individuals from exercising their sacred right to vote for the candidate of their choice in the 2016 Presidential Election,” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “Today’s verdict proves that the defendant’s fraudulent actions crossed a line into criminality and flatly rejects his cynical attempt to use the constitutional right of free speech as a shield for his scheme to subvert the ballot box and suppress the vote.”

In 2016, Mackey established an audience on Twitter with approximately 58,000 followers.  A February 2016 analysis by the MIT Media Lab ranked Mackey as the 107th most important influencer of the then-upcoming Presidential Election.

As proven at trial, 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, in reality, 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, at least 4,900 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.

Several hours after tweeting the first image, Mackey tweeted an image depicting a woman seated at a conference room typing a message on her cell phone.  This deceptive image was written in Spanish and mimicked a font used by the Clinton campaign in authentic ads.  The image also included a copy of the Clinton campaign’s logo and the “ImWithHer” hashtag.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Public Integrity Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Erik D. Paulsen and F. Turner Buford of the Office’s Public Integrity Section, and Trial Attorney William J. Gullotta of the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Shivani Parshad.

The Defendant:

DOUGLASS MACKEY
Age:  33
West Palm Beach, Florida

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 21-CR-80 (AMD)
Contact

John Marzulli
Danielle Blustein Hass
United States Attorney’s Office
(718) 254-6323
Source-FBI

Free and fair democratic elections are one of the founding pillars of the United States. The FBI is committed to protecting every eligible citizen’s right to vote. Consistent with past practice, the FBI is providing this information to educate voters about Federal election crimes and how to avoid them, and to encourage voters to report suspected violations to your local FBI field office.

Election Crimes

Election crimes threaten the integrity of elections and undermine public confidence in our democracy. Election crimes fall into broad categories:

Ballot/voter fraud

Campaign finance violations

Civil rights violations, such as voter suppression or voter intimidation

While individual states and localities have the constitutional authority and responsibility to manage their own elections and election laws, an election crime becomes a federal crime when one or more of the following occurs:

A ballot includes one or more Federal candidates

Election or polling place officials abuse their office

The conduct involves false voter registration

The crime is motivated by hostility toward protected minority groups

The activity violates federal campaign finance law

Examples of Federal election crimes include, but are not limited to:

Giving false information when registering to vote

Voting more than once

Changing ballot markings or otherwise tampering with ballots

Vote buying

Threatening voters with physical or financial harm

Intentionally lying about the time, manner, or place of an election to prevent qualified voters from voting

Political fundraising by federal employees

Campaign contributions above legal limits

Conduit contributions/straw donor schemes

Contributions from foreign or other prohibited sources

Use of campaign funds for personal or unauthorized purposes

Distinguishing between legal and criminal conduct is critical for ensuring the integrity of U.S. elections. The following activities are not federal election crimes:

Giving voters rides to the polls or time off to vote

Offering voters a stamp to mail a ballot

Making false claims about oneself or another candidate

Forging or faking nominating petitions

Campaigning too close to polling places

Honest mistakes by poll workers

Lack of immediate election results while ballots are counted

The FBI plays an important role in preventing violations of your constitutional rights, including your right to vote. Report any instances of potential election crimes to your local FBI field office, and ask to speak to an election crimes coordinator.

Voter Suppression

Intentionally deceiving qualified voters to prevent them from voting is voter suppression—and it is a federal crime.

There are various methods which can be used to spread disinformation about voting. Such methods are social media platforms, texting, or peer-to-peer messaging applications on smartphones. Additionally, bad actors may provide misleading information about the time, manner and place of voting. This includes inaccurate election dates or false claims about voting methods like, voting by text, which is not allowed in any jurisdiction.

Do you know when, where, and how you will vote? If not, there are many reputable places you can find this information, including eac.gov and usa.gov/how-to-vote. However, not all publicly available voting information is accurate, and some is deliberately designed to deceive you in order to suppress turnout.

Always consider the source of voting information. Ask yourself, “Can I trust this information?” Look for official notices from election offices and verify the information you found is accurate.

Help defend the right to vote by reporting any suspected instances of voter suppression—especially those received through a private communication channel like texting—to your local FBI field office and ask to speak to an election crimes coordinator.

Scam PACs

Making political contributions can be a powerful way to exercise your First Amendment rights. But some individuals and groups soliciting contributions are bad actors trying to enrich themselves at your expense.

In every election cycle there are billions of dollars invested in political spending. This attracts criminals who use deception to cheat Americans out of their hard-earned money. The FBI assesses that seniors are at a high risk of being targeted.

Scam PACs are fraudulent political action committees designed to reroute political contributions for personal financial gain. This is a federal crime. Signs that a PAC is a scam include the PAC and its website disappearing, and the phone number going out of service.

If you or someone you know has been targeted by a scam PAC, contact your local FBI field office and ask to speak to an election crimes coordinator.

How to Protect Your Vote

Know when, where, and how you will vote.

Seek out election information from trustworthy sources, verify who produced the content, and consider their intent.

Report potential election crimes—such as disinformation about the manner, time, or place of voting—to the FBI.

If appropriate, make use of in-platform tools offered by social media companies for reporting suspicious posts that appear to be spreading false or inconsistent information about voting and elections.

Research individuals and entities to whom you are making political donations. If something seems suspicious, reconsider the donation.  
 

Victim Reporting and Additional Information

The FBI encourages the public to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to their local FBI field office. For additional election-related assistance and resources, please visit the following FBI webpages:

Election Crimes and Security

Protected Voices

Source-FBI

The National Assembly/State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Lokoja on Friday ordered fresh elections in the  Kogi West Senatorial District.

Senator Dino Melaye is the Senator representing the District.

The three-man panel led by Justice Anthony Chijioke   upheld the arguments of counsel to Senator  Adeyemi  that irregularities, over voting and non-compliance with the electoral acts negatively affected the outcome of the election.

In his reaction, Senator Melaye urged his supporters to calm down, saying “No cause for alarm at all”.
 

The governorship and state houses of assembly elections were conducted, some days ago, in all the state of Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Territory. The elections were characterized by ballot intimidation, threats, box snatching, violence, killings and cover ups.

Nigerians lament that in during the second leg of the elections, several innocent lives were lost again, with the security agents doing virtually nothing to prevent the ugly situation.

Indeed, hoodlums and the security agents had a field day, not ensuring the safety of lives an property, but terrorizing, maiming and killing harmless citizens. In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabit Olagoke says, despite the irregularities that characterized the general elections, Nigeria remains one by the grace of God. Excerpts

The Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections have come and gone, what is your impression on the electoral process ?

Structurally, the electoral process should be regarded as an improvement over the past ones.

One can, however, say the the problem with the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), ahs been the headache of politicians. For example, the ruling party would humanly want to win the elections at all costs, not minding the peoples’ perception about their performances in governance.

The main opposition party would equally want to win at all costs, capitalizing on the weaknesses of the ruling party.

Expectedly, the voters are the major determinants of those that will win elective positions in the elections, no matter how perfectly or poorly conducted.

In the case of 2019, the issue of ballot box snatching must have been widespread, indeed, the two major political parties are guilty of the electoral offence.

Equally, killing of perceived political enemies and innocent citizens were recorded across the country.

Indeed, unprofessional reports on social media almost set the nation on fire.

General observation on the structure put on ground by INEC viz-a-viz the INEC officials, security agencies, the National Orientation Agency(NOA) could have been passed to be very credible, but for some unsavory reports of unholy romance with politicians.

For example, some has more than adequate number of security agents at alert, while others had just one or two security agents, without arms.

In quite a number of areas, reports of security agents killing harmless voters, were rife.

Although there were several detected cases of already thumb printed ballot papers, these cases passed without any action been taken.

Also, in several polling units, ballot papers were inadequate, considering the number of voters. This was deliberate, to further diabolic intentions.

However, against all the odds, results of the electoral process, defective or perfect, were conclusive, except for six states, according to INEC.

Now that winners have emerged in most of the states, what Nigerians should appreciate is the courage displayed by some of the losers, in congratulating the winners.

Suffice it now to say, that winners must look beyond their party lines to serve, so that e will be able to have an inclusive government for an inclusive society, which the United Nations has been working on, for all nations to realize and imbibe, as their political culture for the sake of having equity practice on ground, peace and sustainable development in place.

For those who are not happy with the results declared by INEC, redress must be sought through the election tribunal or the law court.

This should be the only way to address grievances, so as not to further charge the already heated polity into violence.

Though, many Nigerians are clamoring for e-voting, I believe that it is possible, but not until we sensitize and train ourselves to that acceptable level of technological know-how.

Even when we must have attained the state of electronic voting, our attitude must have been worked on, as patriots and sincere Nigerians with the culture of integrity and as die hard believers, in bequeathing an acceptable legacy of development to the coming generation.

For the incoming government to be put in place, the areas of moral discipline, ethical values and practice, quality and standard, must be emphasized in the code of our democratic practice, if we are to justify the divine intervention that still holds us as a nation together, despite the inherent irregularities that mark and dot the lines of the 2019 electoral process.

The four political parties that formed an alliance in Oyo state have attributed their decision to the urgent need to liberate the state from overbearing external influence.

The position of the political parties is contained in a statement titled ''An Alliance for the Freedom of Oyo state'', signed by Chief Senator Oulfemi Lanlehin of the African Democratic Congress(ADC), Engr. Oluseyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Barr. Sharafadeen Alli of the Zenith Labour Party(ZLP) and Chief Bolaji Ayorinde of the Social Democratic Party(SDP).

''We must reverse the situation where all our resources are filtered away to external forces. We have therefore decided that in order to present  an effective and workable solution to the unpalatable situation where Oyo state has been remotely controlled for the past 8 years by outside forces and all manner of constituted authority, there is the need to form this alliance of political parties in the state''.

'' We have firmly resolved to present one candidate in the person of Engineer Oluseyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party for the office of the Governor at the elections holding on 9th March 2019. He shall be heading by the special grace of God and the power of the people of Oyo state, a Government of Unity which will cater for the interest of all our people irrespective of Political Association''.

''In the interest of our thriving Democracy, we have also resolved that the House of Assembly elections will be contested on party basis and all candidates in all the parties are encouraged to go to the polls and contest for the seats available in the Oyo state House of Assembly as scheduled''.''We urge and encourage our people to reject the All Progressives Congress(APC) in the state and its candidates in the state at the election and vote for our Freedom and Emancipation'', the statement concluded.

The All Workers Convergence(AWC) has declared that the  leadership that  has  emerged from the 23 February Presidential and National Assembly elections in Nigeria would not popular when reference is made to the flawed electoral process. 

This declaration was  made by the AWC through it National coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze in a chat with Poverty Line.

''And if government has risen to power through crooked means via manipulating the electoral process that government will never  serve the public interest. The cloud doesn't seem to be clear as the political atmosphere has brewed so much violence thereby making the elections not to be credible, not to be popular and not also to be legitimate. Therefore any leadership that would emerge from such an election shall not be credible, shall not be popular and shall not be legitimate''.

''By implication workers' fate shall be hanging in the balance and nothing extraordinary, new and spectacular will happen to the Nigerian workers through a government that came to  power through an election that is not credible, Comrade Emelieze stated.

At about 3.00 Am on Saturday morning, 16 February, 2019, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) Prof. Mahmood Yakubu  announced the postponement of the general elections scheduled for the same day by one week while that of the governorship and state Houses of Assembly were shifted from March 2 to March 9, 2019. 

Prof. Yakubu also stated that the postponement was due to logistic challenges the Commission was contending with. Prof. Yakubu  refused to entertain any questions from journalists after the announcement.

 Interestingly, President Muhammadu Buhari had made a national broadcast some days, before the INEC Chairman's announcement. 

Indeed, the utterances and body language of President Buhari indicates that he is not ready to relinquish power.

Sadly, most hit by the election postponement, are Nigerians  who traveled long distances to the places they registered for the elections for the sole purpose of voting for the candidates of their choice.

What becomes of the huge financial resources that have gone into the postponed elections for law enforcement and security agencies ?

Indeed, there is more to the postponement than meets the eyes.

In this interview with Poverty Line, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabiut Olagoke says  that INEC, is to blame for its inability to  plan ahead for  problems the postponement has brought about. Excerpts :

What is your reaction to the postponement of the general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) ?

Nigerians ought to have expected  that the postponement was imminent, if the happenings and some events bothering on safety and security were to be considered ab initio for almost six months, the allegations of the influx of illegal weapons into the country had been reported, not into the hands of security agencies, but into the hands of invisible Nigerians.Intelligence gathering ought to have exposed the sponsors of the illegal arms and the purpose they imported it. But this is not so.

One should not be surprised at the report of various killings in political campaigns, most especially the ones involving the ruling party and the main opposition party.

INEC's claim that the postponement was due to  logistic challenges, should be taken in two ways, partly, Nigerians ought to accept it, if one considers the recent burning of INEC offices in some states of the Federation. 

The allegations that foreign observers intend to interfere with the electoral process, must not be ignored, even though the statement credited to the Kaduna state Governor was overzealous. 

The allegation made against former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), are equally significant, if one considers the various interventions of the United States of America in countries, such as Egypt, Libya and Iraq, to be a voyage of disastrous consequences for the affected nations.

The question now is that when are Nigerians going to be truly independent ?

The issue of the postponement of the general elections could therefore be regarded  as the usual economic waste, when one considers the logistic issue of security and economic importance, regarding the observers, party agents and INEC officials, that had left their places of origin to travel to such a far distance, with the accompanying risks. They now have to return home due to the sudden postponement.

Who is to be responsible for their remuneration and compensation ?                            

On the other hand, the postponement will certainly be to the advantage of the major political parties to consolidate their strategies and gains, most especially in the area of decampment for sale and possible onslaught to prey on  91-2 political parties which would be more of surrogates or buffer solution, to boost the chances of  each of the two major political parties, the All Progressives Congress(APC) and the PDP at the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

The blame on the part of INEC, is on its inability to proactively plan for exigency of this nature to the extent that any form of disequilibrium in the Chemistry of our political activities ought to have been addressed at the preventive levels  of solution, not to nosedive into a very costly postponement, which upon final analysis , must have resulted into a huge economic waste, pockets of waste of lives and property and the general state of frustration for all Nigerians, most especially those who are eligible to vote, into another state of apathy.

INEC and the National Orientation Agency must rise into action to disabuse the minds of Nigerians, so that they would be able to turn out en mass to perform their civic responsibilities, in electing our new leaders for the next four years for us.

Above all, we should count ourselves lucky, that we have the retired military Generals as determinant factors of the country's political destiny. They are to blame for not giving Nigerians the necessary legacy for political stability and sustainable development, making us to grope in the darkness of life, looking for a messiah.

Apart from this, we need to appreciate the fact that the ruling party and the main opposition party are not green horns when it comes to the conduct of elections, which in the annals of our history has always been fraught with  rigging.

What Nigerians should expect is not their rhetoric of politics, which we are already used to with dashed hopes, but that this election should be conclusive, free, fair and credible. The eventual winners should be people and development focused and must have zero tolerance for institutional indiscipline and corruption.

The appeal is that votes must count for the people to wholeheartedly support the cause of the government that shall eventually emerge.

At about 3.00 Am on Saturday morning, 16 February, 2019, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) Prof. Mahmood Yakubu  announced the postponement of the general elections scheduled for the same day by one week while that of the governorship and state Houses of Assembly were shifted from March 2 to March 9, 2019. 

Prof. Yakubu also stated that the postponement was due to logistic challenges the Commission was contending with. Prof. Yakubu  refused to entertain any questions from journalists after the announcement.

 Interestingly, President Muhammadu Buhari had made a national broadcast some days, before the INEC Chairman's announcement. 

Indeed, the utterances and body language of President Buhari indicates that he is not ready to relinquish power.

Sadly, most hit by the election postponement, are Nigerians  who traveled long distances to the places they registered for the elections for the sole purpose of voting for the candidates of their choice.

What becomes of the huge financial resources that have gone into the postponed elections for law enforcement and security agencies ?

Indeed, there is more to the postponement than meets the eyes.

In this interview with People, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabiut Olagoke says  that INEC, is to blame for its inability to  plan ahead for  problems the postponement has brought about. Excerpts :

What is your reaction to the postponement of the general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) ?

Nigerians ought to have expected  that the postponement was imminent, if the happenings and some events bothering on safety and security were to be considered ab initio for almost six months, the allegations of the influx of illegal weapons into the country had been reported, not into the hands of security agencies, but into the hands of invisible Nigerians.Intelligence gathering ought to have exposed the sponsors of the illegal arms and the purpose they imported it. But this is not so.

One should not be surprised at the report of various killings in political campaigns, most especially the ones involving the ruling party and the main opposition party.

INEC's claim that the postponement was due to  logistic challenges, should be taken in two ways, partly, Nigerians ought to accept it, if one considers the recent burning of INEC offices in some states of the Federation. 

The allegations that foreign observers intend to interfere with the electoral process, must not be ignored, even though the statement credited to the Kaduna state Governor was overzealous. 

The allegation made against former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), are equally significant, if one considers the various interventions of the United States of America in countries, such as Egypt, Libya and Iraq, to be a voyage of disastrous consequences for the affected nations.

The question now is that when are Nigerians going to be truly independent ?

The issue of the postponement of the general elections could therefore be regarded  as the usual economic waste, when one considers the logistic issue of security and economic importance, regarding the observers, party agents and INEC officials, that had left their places of origin to travel to such a far distance, with the accompanying risks. They now have to return home due to the sudden postponement.

Who is to be responsible for their remuneration and compensation ?                            

On the other hand, the postponement will certainly be to the advantage of the major political parties to consolidate their strategies and gains, most especially in the area of decampment for sale and possible onslaught to prey on  91-2 political parties which would be more of surrogates or buffer solution, to boost the chances of  each of the two major political parties, the All Progressives Congress(APC) and the PDP at the Presidential and National Assembly elections.

The blame on the part of INEC, is on its inability to proactively plan for exigency of this nature to the extent that any form of disequilibrium in the Chemistry of our political activities ought to have been addressed at the preventive levels  of solution, not to nosedive into a very costly postponement, which upon final analysis , must have resulted into a huge economic waste, pockets of waste of lives and property and the general state of frustration for all Nigerians, most especially those who are eligible to vote, into another state of apathy.

INEC and the National Orientation Agency must rise into action to disabuse the minds of Nigerians, so that they would be able to turn out en mass to perform their civic responsibilities, in electing our new leaders for the next four years for us.

Above all, we should count ourselves lucky, that we have the retired military Generals as determinant factors of the country's political destiny. They are to blame for not giving Nigerians the necessary legacy for political stability and sustainable development, making us to grope in the darkness of life, looking for a messiah.

Apart from this, we need to appreciate the fact that the ruling party and the main opposition party are not green horns when it comes to the conduct of elections, which in the annals of our history has always been fraught with  rigging.

What Nigerians should expect is not their rhetoric of politics, which we are already used to with dashed hopes, but that this election should be conclusive, free, fair and credible. The eventual winners should be people and development focused and must have zero tolerance for institutional indiscipline and corruption.

The appeal is that votes must count for the people to wholeheartedly support the cause of the government that shall eventually emerged.

The Independent National Election(INEC) in Oyo state has   barred the reporter of an online investigative news platform  People (2day.emyspot.com) from  covering the Presidential, NationalAssembly and Governorship elections in the state .

  Prior to its decision, it had informed journalists in a Media Briefing it held recently, that  media organizations wishing to cover the general elections had only a day to submit a letter from their organizations and two passport photographs of their staff wishing to cover the elections within 24 hours.

Surprisingly, an INEC official in the state office, told the affected reporter that ''your application was not approved'', even though INEC never gave any instruction to media organization to submit applications.

Interestingly, in a news report on Thursday, by 12 noon , in the Oyo  state owned Broadcasting Corportation(BCOS), the  television station's reporter, reported that INEC in the state received   about 600 applications from media organizations, but only had media kits for 251 journalists. 251 reporters to cover elections in Oyo state alone ?

Sadly, in past elections,the state office of INEC had given accreditation to individuals who do not have any business in journalism, to cover the elections, for purposes that were at variance with  the conduct of free, fair  and credible elections.