With another push in our state to outlaw robocalls, one group has a better solution.
Millions of Americans have registered their phone numbers with the National Do Not Call registry, but many of them don't realize that political calls are exempt. Shaun Dakin is founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry (NPDNC) — a first-of-its-kind "Do Not Call" registry aimed specifically at politicians.
"So, we don't want to stop politicians from contacting people. We just want politicians to stop calling people who have asked – proactively asked – and registered for free at StopPoliticalCalls.org to not call people at dinner time."
Representative Spencer Black (D-Madison) has a bill on the state level to block so-called robo-calls, saying the use of harassing automated computer-generated calls is more common in political campaigns. But Dakin says his measure won't fly because political speech is protected by the First Amendment. So, he's asking political types to voluntarily adhere to a voter's request.
"We're not looking to change the law. What we're looking to do is for politicians to do the right thing."
Political campaigns don't HAVE to abide by the list, but Dakin says it would be in their best interest to focus on voters who want political information, and limit it to those who don't want it. Voters can ask to limit the political calls to certain parties or specific types of communication like email versus phone, and specific issues. The campaigns would prevent angering the voter and losing a potential vote and even save much-needed resources by limiting what they send and to whom.
Voters can register to stop unwanted political calls by visiting StopPoliticalCalls .
AUDIO: Jackie Johnson report (1:39 MP3)
