Facebook recently removed an advertisement from the campaign of U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL). The reason for the removal appears to be that the ad incorrectly stated the last date to return an absentee ballot in Alabama.
The ad urged voters to mail their absentee ballots by November 2 or drop it off by October 29.
In reality, October 29 is the last day a voter in Alabama can apply for an absentee ballot, not the last day they can return one.
According to the Secretary of State’s office, the last day for a citizen voting absentee to return their absentee ballot to their county’s absentee election manager is at the close of business on November 2.
Facebook does not issue public comments on why they take down individual ads, but they affixed a message reading, “This ad was taken down because it goes against Facebook Advertising Policies,” to the ad, which is visible in Facebook’s ad library.
The company’s standards prohibit “Misrepresentation of the dates, locations, and times, and methods for voting or voter registration.”
Data from the Facebook ads library shows that the ad was taken down with less than 1,000 views; though it also says the “potential reach” of the ad was between 500,000 and 1 million people.
Jones’ campaign has spent nearly $800,000 advertising on Facebook during the 2020 election cycle, including $58,034 between October 18 and October 24.
His Republican opponent, former Auburn University head football coach Tommy Tuberville, has spent $256,727 on Facebook ads.
Yellowhammer News perused the Tuberville campaign’s Facebook ads launched in the year 2020 and found that none had been removed by the social network.
Neither campaign will be allowed to create any new ads beginning Tuesday, October 27, because of a Facebook rule for the 2020 election banning new advertisements in the last week before election day. Advertisements the campaigns have previously created will be allowed to keep running.
Most polls on the race show Tuberville with a double-digit lead among voters.
A complete guide to Alabama’s absentee voting process can be found here.
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95.
