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North Carolina Asks Candidates to Respect 'Do Not Call' List

Congress exempted politicians and charities from the law

February 29, 2008 

But alas, the law was written by politicians, and while people wanting to sell you aluminum siding are prohibited from calling you, people asking for your vote on election day are not. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper thinks they should be.

"People who have signed up for the Do Not Call Registry have said loud and clear that they don't want to be bothered with telephone solicitations," Cooper wrote in a letter to the North Carolina Democratic and Republican parties. "I'm asking all candidates to voluntarily comply with the Do Not Call Registry so that people who don't want these robo calls won't get them."

While that request may win Cooper some praise from consumers, it's not likely to win him many friends among his fellow members of the political class. Politicians rely heavily on telephone solicitation for both polling and turn out the vote efforts. Cooper responds that a ringing telephone is just as annoying, regardless of what is being sold.

Cooper is urging legislators in North Carolina to add political robo calls in the list of telephone solicitations covered by the state's Do Not Call Registry. He says hundreds of people complained about getting bombarded with calls leading up to the 2006 elections.

Political robo calls are prerecorded telephone calls made by candidates and campaigns using automated dialers. North Carolina already bans commercial robo calls, unless the call is first introduced by a live person who asks you if you're willing to listen to a recorded message.

Cooper reminded party leaders in his letter that whether candidates choose to comply with the Registry or not, his office will strictly enforce the law, as it exists. Under North Carolina law, political campaigns making prerecorded calls must identify who is making the call, the nature of the call, and provide contact information for the group or campaign that makes the call.

"My office has enforcement authority and can seek penalties for every phone call made to North Carolina homes in violation of the law," Cooper wrote in his letter to party leaders.

Experts on telemarketing laws from the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division met with state political party leaders last year to explain these requirements. Last week, Cooper's office issued written guidelines and asked the parties to share this information with all primary election candidates. Cooper says more than four million North Carolina phone numbers have been placed on the Do Not Call Registry.

To sign up for the "Do Not Call" registry, visit the registry Web site.

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