AIM FOR THE RECORD
Stop those political robocalls -  Posted on Thu, May. 01, 2008

With primary approaching, get ready for annoying automated calls
From Shaun Dakin, CEO of Citizens for Civil Discourse, a nonpartisan nonprofit that runs the National Political Do Not Contact Registry:

The N.C. primary is at hand. While no one knows who will win, one thing we do know: Voters will be smothered with campaign advertisements and bombarded by robocalls.

In 2007 N.C. Sen. Tony Rand introduced Senate Bill 1002 to regulate political robocalls and U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., introduced H.R. 248: Robo Calls Off Phones (Robo COP) Act.

While these bills would provide relief, the cold reality is they won't pass. They'll die in committee -- the typical end for robocall regulatory bills across the nation.

In South Carolina last month, Sen. Larry Martin introduced robocall legislation to much press attention. It was dead on arrival. Why? Jay Ragley, executive director of the S.C. Republican Party, said, "We're here to win elections," and a ban on robocalls would eliminate a tool politicians use.

When I testified before a U.S. Senate committee last month, Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, asked why a politician would pay for robocalls that do nothing but frustrate and alienate voters.

Why indeed? When I talk to robocall consultants, campaign operatives and candidates, I ask them for the data showing robocalls work.

What do they say? We do them because they are cheap. We do them because we can.

The Brookings Institution and Yale University conducted the only respected study of robocalls. The conclusion? There's not one shred of evidence that robocalls persuade anyone to vote for a candidate or even to go to the polls.

At the voluntary National Political Do Not Contact Registry, some members report receiving 10 to 15 robocalls a day during election season. Mothers complain their babies are awakened from naps. Night shift workers who sleep during the day aren't able to get their rest.

A member wrote to us recently: "My 85-year-old mother who had a stroke sometimes is at home alone, and when these phone calls come in, it confuses her and gets her upset when someone doesn't listen to her. She doesn't understand that it is an automated call."

One possible solution: The National Political Do Not Contact Registry we recently launched at www.StopPoliticalCalls.org. By signing up, members send a message to politicians: "Don't call us, we'll call you." We're asking each candidate and political party to voluntarily agree not to contact voters who have registered with us.

Virginia Foxx of North Carolina was the first politician in the nation to take the "do not robocall" pledge. Please do not call her to say thanks.
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For The Record offers commentaries from various sources. The views are the writer's, and not necessarily those of the Observer editorial board.
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