AI scare for US elections? Fake robocall imitating Biden asks voters not to vote in New Hampshire primary

A robocall, which appeared to be an AI-generated fake voice of United States President Joe Biden, appealed to the voters of New Hampshire to not vote in the presidential primary to be held on Tuesday (Jan 23) and save their votes for the general elections to be held in November.

The call's audio was reviewed by a Western media outlet using the anti-robocall application Nomorobo. As per the tracking data of the rob call, a large volume of such calls were made to different people.

“Republicans have been trying to push nonpartisan and Democratic voters to participate in their primary. What a bunch of malarkey,” said Biden's digitally altered voice.

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“We know the value of voting Democratic when our votes count. It’s important that you save your vote for the November election. We’ll need your help in electing Democrats up and down the ticket. Voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again," the voice said.

A spokesperson for Write-In Biden,Aaron Jacobs said, "This is deep fake disinformation designed to harm Joe Biden, suppress votes and damage our democracy. It is being referred to law enforcement so that they can determine who is responsible and bring them to justice."

He added that the group is "focused on one goal until polls close on Tuesday: encouraging Granite Staters to write-in Joe Biden".

Meanwhile, Biden’s campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, in a statement, said, “This matter has already been referred to the New Hampshire Attorney General, and the campaign is actively discussing additional actions to take immediately. Spreading disinformation to suppress voting and deliberately undermine free and fair elections will not stand, and fighting back against any attempt to undermine our democracy will continue to be a top priority for this campaign."

In a statement, the New Hampshire State Justice Department said, "Although the voice in the robocall sounds like the voice of President Biden, this message appears to be artificially generated based on initial indications," adding that it also appears to have been spoofed, making the call appear to "show that it had been sent by the treasurer of a political committee that has been supporting the New Hampshire Democratic Presidential Primary write-in efforts for President Biden".

The New Hampshire Justice Department advised the state's voters to disregard the message and clarified, "Voting in the New Hampshire Presidential Primary Election does not preclude a voter from additionally voting in the November General Election." Its Election Law unit is investigating the matter.

Biden not on New Hampshire Democratic primary ballot

Biden's name will not appear on the New Hampshire Democratic primary ballot in the current cycle. After accepting the president's request, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) approved a new early primary state schedule which took away from New Hampshire its usual status of being the first presidential primary contest and gave that position to South Carolina.

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South Carolina was Biden's first primary contest which he had ever won in any of his three presidential elections.

In response to the decision of President Biden to skip the New Hampshire primary, more than 100 New Hampshire Democratic leaders launched a campaign for encouraging state Democrats to write-in Biden on primary day, which is allowed and has historical precedent.

(With inputs from agencies)