CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – With just over two weeks until election day for the redistricting amendment and early-voting totals surging, a rash of deceptive advertising has hit Virginia, attempting to mislead voters into who supports and who opposes the Democratic plan to temporarily redraw voting maps.

Former President Barack Obama and Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger have both publicly urged voters to vote yes on the proposed redistricting ballot measure. But a text message sent out to area voters appears to claim the opposite.

The text message, paid for by Justice for Democracy PAC, implores voters to vote against the proposed amendment and says “Barack Obama, Gov. George Allen, and Gov. Abigail Spanberger all agree: Vote NO on partisan gerrymandering.”

While Allen has said he opposes the measure, Obama and Spanberger do not. They have publicly encouraged Virginians to vote yes.

The justification for the clearly misleading text comes from a 2019 social media post where, Spanberger, then a Congressional Representative, said, “Gerrymandering is detrimental to our democracy and it weakens the individual voices that form our electorates. Opposing gerrymandering should be a bipartisan priority.”

But in this election cycle, the Governor has made it clear she supports the proposed constitutional amendment as a response to Republican-led redistricting efforts in other states, including Texas.

“Governor Spanberger has made her support of this referendum clear, and she is encouraging every eligible Virginian to vote yes,” Spanberger said in a statement sent to Cville Right now. “Importantly, she believes voters have the information they need to make an informed decision.

“Voters know the proposed map because the General Assembly has passed it. Voters know that this process preserves Virginia’s bipartisan commission for the next post-Census redistricting. Voters know that this referendum is a responsive action because other states have chosen to appease a President who said he is ‘entitled’ to more Republican seats in Congress.

“Virginia will only make a change — even a temporary one — if the people choose to support it.”

Obama posted a video to social media supporting the initiative and asking voters to vote yes and pass it.

“Over the past year, several Republican-controlled states have taken the unprecedented step of redrawing their Congressional maps in the middle of the decade,” Obama said in the video. “And they’ve done it for a simple reason. to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterms this fall. In April, Virginians can respond by making sure your voting power is not diminished by what Republicans are doing in other states. This amendment gives you the power to level the playing field in the midterms this fall.”

Similar wording was included in a mailer sent to area voters over the past week.

“The ‘No’ campaign and its allied MAGA-funded dark money groups are so terrified of the voters that they are resorting to desperate, deceptive tactics like this one to spread misinformation and lies,” said, John Bisognano, President of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), in a statement. “There is no confusion. President Obama endorses voting YES to stop Trump and his MAGA allies from rigging our elections and to protect the rights and voting power of the American people ahead of the midterms.”

Earlier this month, a billboard in Page County includes a photo of a glowering Trump with the words, “President Trump says, ‘Take over the voting.’ Vote yes on redistricting April 21.” That advertisement, paid for by the Page County Democratic Committee, referenced Trump’s comments on a podcast appearance when he said, “The Republicans should say: ‘We want to take over. We should take over the voting in at least 15 places.’”