Should Political Robocalls Be On 'Do Not Call List'?
BOSTON (CBS) - A state legislator is hoping to slow the tide of endless robocalls that begin to stream in during election season.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports
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Most of us have received those automated calls from candidates asking for our vote. During the last couple of elections, the automated political calls from various candidates have became increasingly commonplace, and many would say annoying. So annoying, in fact, that Rep. Stephen Kulik of Worthington is filing a bill to limit them.
Rep. Kulik said he first heard complaints after the special election to fill Senator Ted Kennedy's seat.
"And I heard a lot of complaints from my constituents and others around the state that this was extremely annoying and unprecedented in terms of the number of calls people were getting. Ten and 12 calls during the day starting early in the morning and often going late at night," said Rep. Kulik.
The bill would allow people to put themselves on a "do not call list" specifically for political campaigns. The list just like the one used now for telemarketers would allow people to indicate a preference not to be contacted by politicians.
Rep. Kulik said he thinks the robocalls are actually having the opposite effect.
"What I found is though that they said to me when they called my office, that they're gonna vote against the next person who sends them a robocall, and so I found that it was backfiring on candidates in that election," said Rep. Kulik.
The bill also says that those who would still choose to allow the automated calls must first be contacted by a real person to get permission to play to recorded messages.
