Ahead of the New Hampshire presidential primary, Steve Kramer and two corporations orchestrated and distributed recorded message via robocalls to thousands of New Hampshire voters. The message used AI to mimic President Biden’s voice and the robocalls displayed a false caller ID number associated with a prominent figure in the state’s Democratic party, and told voters not to vote in the primary election. In early 2024, the League of Women Voters of the United States (LWV-US), the League of Women Voters of New Hampshire (LWV-NH), and several individual New Hampshire voters filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of New Hampshire against Steve Kramer, Lingo Telecom, Life Corporation, and Voice Broadcasting Corporation, who together delivered the robocalls. LWV-NH, LWV-US, and the individual voters seek to stop the defendants from using robocalls and AI technology to intimidate, threaten, coerce, or deceive voters. Two of the corporate defendants filed a motion to dismiss the case, which the court denied in March 2025. Plaintiffs resolved their claims against all three corporate defendants via two settlement agreements. Mr. Kramer refused to respond to the complaint or otherwise participate in the lawsuit. Ultimately, the court issued Default Judgment against Mr. Kramer, finding in the plaintiffs’ favor on all four counts of the amended complaint, awarding financial damages to the individual voter plaintiffs, and permanently enjoining Mr. Kramer from carrying out similar schemes in the future. The injunction specifically blocks Mr. Kramer from “orchestrating a deceptive and coercive robocall campaign or scheme that attempts to or does intimidate, threaten, or coerce lawfully registered voters to cause them to be fearful or reluctant to exercise their right to vote in any election in the United States.” The court’s ruling serves as important precedent for future legal challenges to voter intimidation schemes using AI technology. Free Speech For People and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP represented the plaintiffs, along with local counsel Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau, & Pachios, Chartered, LLP. Read the complaint Why Free Speech For People is Challenging Artificial Intelligence in U.S. Elections The lawsuit argues that the robocalls violated federal and state laws that protect voters from intimidation, threats, coercion, and deception: the Voting Rights Act, which bans intimidating, threatening, or coercing, or attempting to intimidate, threaten or coerce, any person from voting; the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits the distribution of unwanted and deceptive robocalls; and provisions of New Hampshire state law, which prohibit the distribution of political messages via robocalls without disclosing the source of the calls or that deceive call recipients Read More