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heidiI've seen complaints by people on my flist over the last few days about automatic calls about political candidates & ballot initiatives, which, in most states, are allowed under the Political Calls exception to the Do Not Call Registry (although New Hampshire has an exception to that exception (you can be called by a political campaign if you're on the DNC list but they can't use a recorded message when they do it)).
Most of the calls, it seems, are being made by the National Republican Congressional Committee, despite some protests by the Republican candidates at issue. According to a diarist at DailyKos, the following races have seen robo-calls:
You can listen to one here (in WAV format) - I'll try and change it into MP3 if that's easier for anyone. It's not the content of the calls that's a problem, per se - it's certainly info that a campaign is allowed to give about its opponent - the problem is the time of day they're being delivered, the fact that it violates some states' laws, and the repetitiveness of the calls if the recipient hangs up. An article in Indiana from last week explains the situation as well.
If you've been hit by the calls, regardless of what candidate or issue you're voting for, people are starting to compile lists on pages like this one to document the situation, and to help alert the mass media.
If you don't want to do that, a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, who was hit with these calls herself, has these two suggestions:
The calls seem to generally begin with the phrase "Hi. I'm calling with information about [Dem candidate]". If you hang up, the robocall is set to call back until you listen to a certain amount of information, and the calls are set to be done at night / very early a.m. Many people receiving the calls are complaining to the Democratic candidate, and many Republican candidates have told the press that they have asked for the calls to stop.
Most of the calls, it seems, are being made by the National Republican Congressional Committee, despite some protests by the Republican candidates at issue. According to a diarist at DailyKos, the following races have seen robo-calls:
CA-04, CA-50, CT-04, CT-05, FL-13, ID-01, IL-06, IL-08, KS-02, NC-11, NH-02, NY-19, PA-06, WA-05
You can listen to one here (in WAV format) - I'll try and change it into MP3 if that's easier for anyone. It's not the content of the calls that's a problem, per se - it's certainly info that a campaign is allowed to give about its opponent - the problem is the time of day they're being delivered, the fact that it violates some states' laws, and the repetitiveness of the calls if the recipient hangs up. An article in Indiana from last week explains the situation as well.
If you've been hit by the calls, regardless of what candidate or issue you're voting for, people are starting to compile lists on pages like this one to document the situation, and to help alert the mass media.
If you don't want to do that, a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, who was hit with these calls herself, has these two suggestions:
You can complain to the FCC if you think the calls are illegal.... (202-418-1440, phone; 202-418-0232, fax.)
Or you can do what I briefly considered yesterday: Send the NRCC your own robocalls telling it to STOP IT!
Try www.voiceshot.com - 12 cents a call, no minimum. The NRCC's number is 202-479-7000.
The calls seem to generally begin with the phrase "Hi. I'm calling with information about [Dem candidate]". If you hang up, the robocall is set to call back until you listen to a certain amount of information, and the calls are set to be done at night / very early a.m. Many people receiving the calls are complaining to the Democratic candidate, and many Republican candidates have told the press that they have asked for the calls to stop.
