Exclusive - Twitter deletes over 10,000 accounts that sought to discourage U.S. voting

A voting official hands back an early voter his ID in Valdosta, Georgia, U.S., October 24, 2018. REUTERS/Lawrence Bryant

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Twitter Inc deleted more than 10,000 automated accounts posting messages that discouraged people from voting in Tuesday's U.S. election and wrongly appeared to be from Democrats, after the party flagged the misleading tweets to the social media company.

"We took action on relevant accounts and activity on Twitter," a Twitter spokesman said in an email. The removals took place in late September and early October.