League of Women Voters of New Hampshire v. Kramer

Ahead of the New Hampshire presidential primary, Steve Kramer and three corporations orchestrated and distributed a recorded message via robocalls to thousands of New Hampshire voters. The message used artificial intelligence to mimic President Biden’s voice, telling voters not to vote in the primary election. Further, the robocalls displayed a false caller ID number associated with a prominent figure in the state’s Democratic party.

On March 14, 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, and Life Corporation, who, together, delivered the robocalls. On May 28, 2024, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint which added Voice Broadcasting Corporation as a defendant. 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.

Free Speech For People and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP represent the plaintiffs, along with local counsel Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau, & Pachios, Chartered, LLP.

Key Facts

Background

III

Major Developments and Documents

Press

Key Facts

Caption	League of Women Voters of New Hampshire v. Kramer
Court	US District Court of New Hampshire
Docket No.	24 1:24-cv-00073
Status	Preliminary Injunction Hearing Held; Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Motions to Dismiss under consideration.
Plaintiffs	League of Women Voters of New Hampshire, League of Women Voters of the United States, and NH Voters
Defendants	Steve Kramer, Lingo Telecom, LLC, and Life Life Corporation

Background

Three days before the New Hampshire presidential primary, Steve Kramer paid to create a recorded message using artificial intelligence to mimic President Biden’s voice. Posing as President Biden, the messages falsely implied that voters could not vote in both the primary and general elections and urged voters to “save” their vote for November. Lingo Telecom and Life Corporation then distributed the message via robocalls to thousands of New Hampshire voters without disclosing the source of the calls. The calls “spoofed” a phone number associated with a former chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party and included her personal cell number in the message itself.

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

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. Plaintiffs have asked for a preliminary injunction, which would block the defendants from orchestrating or disseminating illegal political robocalls prior to the 2024 general election.

After Mr. Kramer refused to respond to the complaint or otherwise participate in the lawsuit, the court entered Mr. Kramer’s default.

Free Speech For People are co-counsel on this lawsuit with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and local counsel Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau, & Pachios, Chartered, LLP.

Read the press release

Read the complaint