You said:

“Nothing more than incompetence by an org that is doing good works that made a mistake….

“In fact, I know of no political campaign at the national level that offers voters a way to opt out of further calls….

“The bill would sanction groups or individuals who make political robocalls between the hours of 9 p.m. and 8 a.m., make more than two political robocalls to the same number in the same day….”

It’s hard for WVWV to claim a mistake, when they have a very long history of “mistakes”, have been warned by numerous other states, and were warned in North Carolina as recently as February, I believe. (I can’t find the source for NC Feb. warning, but I recall reading it.) Moreover, N.C. law doesn’t let an organization get by with the “mistake” excuse either. The penalties or not as high, but the law expects a certain amount of competency. I’m sure tha AG would not charge them for a few mistakes, but probably would for thousands of calls.

Also, how do you know the N.C. robocalls were a mistake? I ask because you make the assertion as if it is fact. I’m not trying to chastise you, but rather, I would like to know what the facts are if you are somehow privileged to them. There is a lot of speculation surrounding this matter, and if it is indeed a mistake, people need to be told.

As for the “other campaigns and non-profits,” I’ve never received a call at home from a campaign that did not announce who they were and why they were calling. I honestly cannot remember but one campaign (Obama’s) that provided contact information. Also, when I made GOTV calls for John Edward’s campaign, our script specifically provided an introduction and ended with contact information.

Re: opt out - I don’t know what the laws are in all states, but I know N.C. law requires the caller (viz. campaign) conform to the national “Do Not Call” registry, which anybody can add their phone number to. If I recall correctly, there are already approx. 100 million people/numbers registered.

Re: Feinstein et al. bill - Most states prohibit any type of unsolicited call from an organization between 9 PM and 8 AM. I know my state does, and since I recently researched NC, I know it does as well.

I also found it interesting that the politicians in N.C. (and presumably other states) made sure political campaign calls are afforded the same exceptions as non-profits and a very limited list of other groups/call types. They did not put political calls in the same group as businesses, debt collectors, etc., for obvious reasons. And as you note in the Feinstein bill, I found no limits on the calls per day for those groups either.

I know from experience people get very annoyed when called multiple times per day. Campaigns are doing themselves no favors when they don’t organize their GOTV efforts well. It cost them votes.

Re: “Why is the AG not going after other…organizations.” I don’t know and I have no knowledge of other organizations doing what WVWV did. Maybe the question should be, “Why didn’t other states investigate?” Maybe the N.C. AG’s office is doing their job, where others chose not to.

- - David

What is interesting that the AG is going after WVWV for violating the law, but they are not going after other non-profit organizations that may also be violating the law.

The calls violated the law according to the AG’s press release:

The calls violated state law by failing to disclose who sponsored the call and failing to offer the organization’s contact information to get the calls to stop.

The reality is that there are more than likely several campaigns and other non-profit organizations that are “failing to disclose who sponsored the call” and “failing to offer the org’s contact information to get the calls to stop”.

In fact, I know of no political campaign at the national level that offers voters a way to opt out of further calls.

That is why Sen. Feinstein and Rep. Lofgren have introduced the Robocall Privacy Act.

As I stated in my op-ed in Politico today.

Recently, a bicameral and bipartisan effort has been led by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Reps. Zoe Lofgren (-Calif.) and John Campbell (R-Calif.) with the introduction of the Robocall Privacy Act. The bill would sanction groups or individuals who make political robocalls between the hours of 9 p.m. and 8 a.m., make more than two political robocalls to the same number in the same day, fail to disclose the party responsible for the political robocall or block caller identification information.

Why is the AG not going after other organizations?

Is it because this is a political hot potato?