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Friday, April 27, 2007

Bills to Restrict Political Robocalls Popping Up in States

This article from the New York Times highlights an upcoming vote in the Nebraska state legislature to regulate robocalls. The pending bill in Nebraska would limit the number of automated political calls any household could receive in one day to two, restrict calling to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., who is responsible for the call would have to be disclosed at the beginning, and indicate whether a candidate approved the message.

Several Nebraska state lawmakers were so outraged by the shenanigans that they are pushing legislation that would impose some of the country's most restrictive regulations on prerecorded campaign calls, both bogus and legitimate ones. Similar bills are in the works in Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Wisconsin and at least a dozen other states, prompted in large part by telephone calls authorized by campaigns during last year's elections.

According to a survey conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, during the 2006 election campaign robocalls were the second most popular form of political communication and nearly two-thirds of registered voters nationwide received the recorded telephone messages.

So far, only a few states, including Indiana, Minnesota and New Jersey, have laws restricting the calls, but more than 20 states have bills now pending. In Missouri and Rhode Island, lawmakers want to establish a political no-call list. In Florida, the existing commercial no-call list would be extended to include the political calls. A bill in Michigan would prohibit early morning and late-night conjunction calls.