Campaign Verify Expands Political Verification to Toll-Free and Short Code Messaging

Political texting is about to see another major compliance shift.

Following a recent announcement from a major U.S. wireless carrier, Campaign Verify—the federally recognized verification service for political organizations—will soon issue Authorization Tokens for Toll-Free and Short Code messaging channels, in addition to existing 10DLC tokens.

This marks a major milestone in aligning all A2P messaging channels under a unified compliance and verification standard.

Key Dates to Know

• November 5, 2025: Political committees will be able to generate three types of Campaign Verify tokens:
  
  • 10DLC (The Campaign Registry)
  • Toll-Free
  • Short Code
• February 17, 2026: U.S. wireless carriers will require political committees to obtain a valid Campaign Verify Authorization Token for any messaging channel—10DLC, Toll-Free, or Short Code.
  
  • This applies to all new and existing 527 tax-exempt political organizations.

Token Validity: Authorization Tokens issued after November 15, 2024 will remain valid through January 31, 2027, covering the current two-year election cycle. Existing tokens issued before that date have expired and must be renewed.

Why This Matters

If you’re a political software provider or campaign platform, this change represents the next phase in the industry’s ongoing shift toward consistent compliance across every A2P messaging channel.

Until now, political organizations primarily needed Campaign Verify tokens for 10DLC registration through The Campaign Registry (TCR). That process helped confirm the legitimacy of campaign committees and ensure that only verified entities could send political messages through 10DLC.

Now, that same verification step will apply to Toll-Free and Short Code traffic—further reinforcing carrier efforts to reduce spam, protect voters, and maintain trust across the messaging ecosystem.

How This Connects to Recent Toll-Free Updates

We recently covered new Toll-Free requirements that take effect January 1, 2026, including the need for Business Registration Numbers (EINs).

These new Campaign Verify tokens for Toll-Free numbers will layer on top of those requirements—meaning political senders must both:

1. Complete Toll-Free verification with a valid BRN/EIN, and
2. Obtain a Campaign Verify Authorization Token for the Toll-Free channel.

In short: political messaging is moving toward the same level of authentication and traceability across all messaging channels.

What Political Software Providers Should Do Now

If your platform serves political committees or advocacy groups, now is the time to prepare:

• Update your onboarding and registration workflows to collect and store multiple Campaign Verify tokens (10DLC, Toll-Free, Short Code).
• Coordinate with your connectivity partner to ensure token submission and validation processes are in place.
• Stay informed about evolving carrier timelines and compliance updates between now and February 2026.

Follow token security best practices: Treat Campaign Verify tokens like API keys. They should be securely collected via HTTPS forms and stored in protected databases. Campaign Verify also offers an API to validate tokens before submission to The Campaign Registry or your aggregator—an added safeguard against errors, expired tokens, or spoofing attempts.

For some quick FAQs on how political registration works today under 10DLC, check out this article.

The Bigger Picture

From 10DLC to Toll-Free to Short Code, one thing is clear: A2P messaging compliance is converging.

The days of fragmented verification processes are ending, and unified standards are taking their place. For political senders—and the SaaS platforms supporting them—this means less room for error, but greater long-term stability and deliverability.

At Telgorithm, we help platforms navigate these changes seamlessly, ensuring you stay compliant and connected through every regulatory shift.

Need guidance on preparing your political messaging workflows for 2026? Contact our team to learn how Telgorithm supports compliant, reliable 10DLC and Toll-Free messaging.