Harris campaign text targeting Arizona students triggers state Senate investigation

PHOENIX — A text message from the Harris campaign targeting students at Arizona’s public universities sparked data privacy concerns and a state Senate investigation over the weekend.

On Sunday, students and others with ties to Arizona State University, the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University received text messages informing them of the voter registration deadline, which is to Monday.

“As an Arizona State University student, you can register and vote in Arizona. Register today to vote at your on-campus or off-campus housing address,” one version of the text reads.

It is legal in Arizona for students to register to vote from their dorm address, as long as they are not registered to vote elsewhere, even if they are technically an out-of-state student.

The three public universities told the Post that student directory data could be released through the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, but that students could choose to “ retain” their information.

An ASU spokesperson told the Post that the law also allows political campaigns to obtain this information.

“The contact details of registered students (including their mobile phone numbers) are in the public domain. This is not ASU policy,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “Under FERPA, this information is considered “directory information,” along with other basic information such as the student’s major, dates of attendance, and enrollment status. It’s common for entities that want to advertise to ASU students to request these publicly available contact details — from apartment complexes to credit cards to political candidates.

“We receive these types of requests several times throughout the year and the requester must pay for the data they are requesting,” Kimberly Ott, NAU associate vice president for communications, told the Post.

“Organizations may request directory information through the University of Arizona Office of Public Records. Under federal law, directory information is not considered private unless students choose not to disclose it to the public. Students can make this choice at any time through their online student portal,” a University of Arizona spokesperson said.

Still, some Republicans are raising questions about the legality and ethics of using data for mass political text messages.

State Sen. Jake Hoffman announced Sunday that he planned to launch a formal investigation, arguing in a tweet that it was against the law “for political campaigns seeking access to students’ personally identifiable information (PII) of Arizona’s public universities.

“I was informed of this security breach by dozens of students today and I intend to use the full weight of the Arizona Senate to determine how the Harris campaign acquired the information legally protected identifiable personal information of these students,” Hoffman told the Post.

The Harris campaign declined to comment. It is unclear whether the list of telephone numbers was obtained directly from each university’s registrar’s office or through a third-party vendor.

But the University of Arizona told the Post that it “has not received a request for directory information from the Harris campaign.”

“I know Arizona Republicans are way behind the times when it comes to modern election campaigning, but their ignorance does not excuse this absolute lie that a text message like this asking students to register to vote is 1 ) election interference and 2) otherwise contrary to the law,” Democratic strategist Tony Cani tweeted Monday.

The Harris and Trump campaigns are in full swing this week in the Grand Canyon State as early voting begins Wednesday. Former President Donald Trump holds an average lead of 1.4% in the polls, according to the RealClearPolitics average. Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to visit Arizona on Friday, and Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will rally voters in Tucson with dueling matches on Wednesday.