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Aug 18, 2026 — 5:51 PM ET
- Google is launching a Gmail program that gives qualifying political committees an easier route past its usual spam filtering.
- The Gmail Verified Sender Program starts September 8 — less than two months before the 2026 US midterm elections.
- Participants must meet verification and security requirements and keep their spam rate below 0.3%.
As if your inbox needed any more help filling up with political fundraising pleas, Google is about to give qualifying campaigns and committees an easier route past Gmail’s usual spam filtering. The new program arrives just in time for the final stretch before the 2026 midterms.
As spotted by The New York Times, Google has announced a new Gmail Verified Sender Programthat launches on September 8. Qualifying candidates, political parties, PACs, and other political committees will be able to avoid Gmail’s usual spam filtering, provided they meet Google’s requirements.
Those requirements include sending from a verified domain, meeting Google’s authentication and security standards, and keeping the percentage of messages that Gmail users mark as spam below 0.3% over a 14-day average. Google can suspend or remove senders that fail to comply, at which point their emails go back through the normal filtering system.
Google told the NYT that the program is intended to connect people with emails they want while keeping users in control of their inboxes. Gmail users can still mark messages as spam, block senders, and unsubscribe, so verified status doesn’t give campaigns completely free rein.
The change also arrives after years of Republican complaints that the Gmail spam filter treated their political fundraising emails less favorably than Democratic messages. The Republican National Committee sued Google over the issue, but the case was later dismissed, while the Federal Election Commission also dismissed a related complaint.
The timing is unlikely to delight anyone already tired of election-season email. The program goes live less than two months before the November 3 elections, giving campaigns plenty of time to ramp up their fundraising appeals during the final stretch.
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