> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Political Campaign and GOTV Messaging for the 2026 US Cycle

> Register campaign, PAC, party, and GOTV senders on 10DLC, carry the disclaimers and opt-out language each content class requires, plan peak-night throughput against your registered tier, and hold the posture with tenant-owned controls.

# Political Campaign and GOTV Messaging for the 2026 US Cycle

Political messaging is reviewable traffic: TCR vets the entity, the use
case, and the sample messages you file, and the carriers filter the
traffic you send against what you filed. This guide walks the operator
side of the 2026 US cycle: the registration facts per sender type, the
disclaimer and opt-out language each content class carries, peak-night
throughput arithmetic, and the tenant-owned controls that hold your
posture once the sends start.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Campaign legality, disclaimer adequacy, and solicitation rules are your
> responsibility with your counsel. Orbit enforces the posture you
> configure: quiet hours, consent gates, suppression scopes, frequency
> caps, and the pacing your registered throughput allows. It does not
> decide that a campaign is legal, and no vendor can.

## Register the sender before you plan the calendar

Draw the first line the way TCR does: the entity's legal identity. A
candidate's authorized committee, a PAC, a party committee, and a
nonpartisan GOTV organization are four different registration postures,
and each gets its own brand and its own campaign use case. Do not share
a sender across legally distinct entities.

For every political sender, verify before submission:

1. The legal name and EIN match IRS records exactly. Copy both from the
   IRS determination letter; FEC filing names can drift from IRS names.
2. The use case matches the traffic. Political traffic belongs on the
   political campaign class from the first submission, never on a
   generic marketing class.
3. The sample messages already carry the compliance furniture: the
   sender's name in the first words, the "paid for by" line where the
   content is participation content, the opt-out language on every
   sample, and the solicitation mechanics where the send asks for
   money.
4. The authorization tokens your class expects are attached. Campaign
   Verify authorization is the standing proof that the sender is the
   entity it claims to be.

If a submission stalls, the per-carrier status split is the first place
to look: a campaign-level approval does not mean every carrier family
has cleared the sender. The rejection patterns and the resubmission
path are documented in the [10DLC rejections and revetting
guide](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/guides/10dlc-rejections-and-revet.md).

## Write the content classes with their disclaimers

Participation content urges the election or defeat of a named candidate
or clearly identified ballot measure and carries the "paid for by"
disclaimer plus opt-out language. Non-participation content (GOTV, poll
hours, civic reminders) carries no "paid for by" line but still
identifies the sender, states frequency, and carries the same opt-out
mechanics. Opt-out language is required on every application-to-person
political message, and the samples you file are the ceiling of what you
send.

Participation, no solicitation:

> Sam, Adriana Ramirez for State Senate here. Early voting starts Oct
> 24 in your county. Volunteer shifts: adrianaramirez.example/volunteer.
> Paid for by Ramirez for State Senate. Reply STOP to unsubscribe, HELP
> for help.

Participation, contribution solicitation:

> Sam, Adriana Ramirez for State Senate here. Our field program runs on
> small gifts from neighbors: adrianaramirez.example/contribute. Paid
> for by Ramirez for State Senate. Reply STOP to unsubscribe, HELP for
> help.

The `.example` domain marks the placeholder: file and send with the
campaign domain you actually own, because sample-to-live-message drift
is itself a vetting rejection.

Non-participation GOTV:

> Jordan, this is Civic Engagement Now. Polls in your county are open
> 7am to 8pm on Tue Nov 3. Find your polling place: vote.org. Msg freq
> varies. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for info.

Keep the sample bodies identical between your filing and your live
sends. A live message that adds a claim, a link pattern, or a
solicitation mechanic the samples never showed is a use-case mismatch
found after approval, which is a de-registration, not a rejection.

## SHAFT and non-commercial advocacy

Political speech is not a SHAFT category; the adjacent rails still
apply. A GOTV message that references a ballot measure about firearms
or alcohol inherits that vertical's restrictions, advocacy content that
promotes hate or election misinformation is prohibited outright, and
nonpartisan does not mean unregistered: carriers vet the traffic class,
not the intent. The [restricted industries
reference](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/compliance/restricted-industries.md) carries the per-vertical
rules; the companion buyer guide walks the SHAFT nuance for GOTV and
non-commercial advocacy in full.

For the consent posture, turn on the [consent-required
gate](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/compliance/consent-required-gate.md) on every political sender so
nothing sends without a consent record on file, and keep the consent
basis per list: each opt-in names the organization that sends.

## Plan peak-night throughput before the calendar does

Throughput is registered per number per day by vetting tier. The
peak-night arithmetic is recipient count divided by registered
throughput, and that quotient is the number of days the send takes;
election night does not grant extra days. If the arithmetic fails,
register the tier the plan needs while the vetting window is open,
spread the send across registered senders you operate, or cut the
segment. Queues pace to the registered tier.

Keep one suppression list across the rapid-fire blasts. A STOP
collected on the first blast must exclude the recipient from every
later send in the program. Scrub imported lists against the tenant
suppression scope before the first send; the [audience pre-flight
walkthrough](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/guides/campaign-audience-preflight-review.md) reads the net
projection (suppression, per-channel opt-outs, missing addresses) as a
pre-launch gate.

State overlay laws override "send when it suits the program." Several
states run texting and calling windows on top of the federal baseline,
and the calendar moves through H2 2026. The [state overlay
calendar](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/compliance/tcpa-state-map-2026.md) is the date-anchored list;
check it before you schedule election-night sends.

## Pre-send checklist

* Brand and campaign registered per legal entity; no sender shared
  across distinct entities.
* Use case on every sender matches the traffic it carries.
* Filed samples, validation set, and live templates carry identical
  bodies, disclaimers, and opt-out language.
* Consent-required gate on; every list carries its opt-in source and
  the opt-in names the sending organization.
* Suppression: imported lists scrubbed before the first send; STOP
  propagation verified tenant-wide.
* Quiet hours set to recipient local time; urgent election-day traffic
  documented as its own narrow list with its own consent basis.
* Frequency caps set for the final-week blast count.
* Throughput arithmetic checked per segment against the registered
  tier, with the plan adjusted before the vetting window closes.
* State overlay windows checked for every scheduling decision.

## Further reading

* [10DLC brand registration walkthrough](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/guides/10dlc-registration.md)
* [10DLC rejections and revetting guide](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/guides/10dlc-rejections-and-revet.md)
* [Restricted & prohibited industries reference](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/compliance/restricted-industries.md)
* [Consent & suppression model](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/concepts/consent-and-suppression-model.md)
* [TCPA state map, 2026](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/compliance/tcpa-state-map-2026.md)


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