LWVNH v. Kramer

LWVNH v. Kramer is a 2025 law suit. https://news.google.com/read/CBMigAFBVV95cUxPRnZNSjhZVEJ0T2lrMk1JSGR0WkhWaTl4Tkt3bHpLUEc3dW5mZm1rZTdDNVV5aUc0TTduelBiTnBlWWJ4T1RrVHpfSy0tYUN0SU8tamswMkdXVkZ6eFRiZVhhdkM2dTloU1BGenpIQUpiYlhrcThNN080T0tRZ01JOQ?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen  https://www.lwv.org/legal-center/league-women-voters-new-hampshire-v-kramer https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1361661/dl

Background
Steve Kramer worked with  three companies (Lingo Telecom, Life Corporation, and Voice Broadcasting Corporation) to make robocalls  to potential New Hampshire voters. The plan was to influence them in the New Hampshire 2024 presidential-primary election and the 2024 presidential election.  This was done by  telephoning people with a message that sounded like President Biden but was really an AI voice.  The message told voters not to vote in the primary election in order to save because they needed to  their vote for the general election. This was false information. The calls were made within the last three days before the election. The message was intimidating and deceptive. Thousands of people got these calls. The League of Women Voters of New Hampshire tried to tell people that the calls were wrong, but it had little time to do so.  

Lawsuit
On March 14, 2024 the League of Women Voters of New Hampshire and others sued Kramer and the three companies in the US District Court of New Hampshire.  The League wanted to stop future deceptive robocalls. The League's law firms were Free Speech For People (FSFP), Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, and Preti, Flaherty, Beliveau & Pachios, Chartered, LLP.  Kramer did not appear in court to defend his actions. https://www.lwv.org/legal-center/league-women-voters-new-hampshire-v-kramer

Decision
The court made its final decision on 20 November 2025. https://www.lwv.org/legal-center/league-women-voters-new-hampshire-v-kramer The League of Women Voters of New Hampshire won the case on all four of their claims. The court ruled in a default judgment that Steve Kramer had arranged for and paid for AI robocalls that told potential New Hampshire presidential-primary voters wrong things about Joe Biden and "intimidated" the  people on the calls. Specifically, the League had asked the court to  "forbid defendants from (1) creating and distributing AI-generated robocalls impersonating people without their consent; (2) distributing spoofed communications; (3) distributing phone calls, text messages, and any illegal mass communications under federal law."https://www.lwv.org/legal-center/league-women-voters-new-hampshire-v-kramer The court ruled that Kramer had violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and state laws and forbade Kramer from ever conducting a a deceptive robocall campaign on registered voters.  The three companies had earlier settled with the plaintiffs.

Significance

“The court’s decision affirms that deceptive, AI-generated robocalls designed to intimidate and confuse voters are a direct assault on our democracy and will not be tolerated," said  Liz Tentarelli, president of the League of Women Voters of New Hampshire, according to Free Speech for People. https://freespeechforpeople.org/league-of-women-voters-and-free-speech-for-people-applaud-judgment-for-plaintiffs-in-new-hampshire-voter-intimidation-lawsuit/ 

“In today’s world of rapid technological advancements, the American public should be on guard against such abuses, and stand ready to defend our democracy against bad actors who would use technology to undermine it. Free Speech For People is honored to represent, with our co-counsel, both the national and New Hampshire Leagues of Women Voters and our individual plaintiffs in this important, powerful case,” said Courtney Hostetler, Legal Director of Free Speech For People. https://freespeechforpeople.org/league-of-women-voters-and-free-speech-for-people-applaud-judgment-for-plaintiffs-in-new-hampshire-voter-intimidation-lawsuit/ 

Notes
The text of the robocall can be found at https://www.lwv.org/legal-center/league-women-voters-new-hampshire-v-kramer.

The official court ruling can be found at https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1361661/dl.