States consider restrictions or bans on recorded campaign calls

TRENTON, N.J. -- Um, honey, Joe Piscopo is on the phone talking about a U.S. Senate candidate.

Many New Jersey residents got automated calls from a host of politicians and celebrities, including the former "Saturday Night Live" comedian, as last year's campaign season heated up. But those "robocalls" could soon be banned or restricted, in New Jersey and many other states.

"It's gotten to the point that these calls are so used, and quite frankly misused, that the public is getting very, very tired of it," said Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, the sponsor of a bill to restrict such calls in New Jersey.

About two-thirds of registered voters across the country received recorded campaign telephone messages last year, according to a survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. It found that the calls were the second most popular form of political communication after mailings.

That doesn't mean they were popular with callers.

"People despise these calls," said Van Drew, D-Cape May. "They are giving elections a bad name and turning off voters."

Arkansas, New Hampshire, Indiana, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming are among states that restrict the calls, and according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 20 others are considering following suit.

The calls were an issue in a New Jersey state Senate primary election on Tuesday, with Republican voters in a North Jersey district receiving calls contending a candidate with an Irish last name, Kevin O'Toole, had received preferential treatment as a Korean-American.

"That has to offend your sense of appropriate behavior," said O'Toole, who has an Irish father and Korean mother. Despite the calls, he won the Republican Senate nomination.

Complaints have been heard elsewhere.

Some Nebraskans last year complained about receiving nearly two dozen calls a day at all hours. In Missouri, officials received nearly 700 complaints about automated calls during last year's U.S. Senate campaign. And in several states, congressional candidates complained unauthorized calls using their name were being made late at night in a ploy to turn voters against them.

Proposals to ban the calls vary. Rhode Island proposes a political no-call list, while Pennsylvania wants to force politicians to disclose they're sponsoring calls.

New Jersey's proposal would revise the state's do-not-call law, designed to crackdown on telemarketers, to stop politicians from sending prerecorded calls to people on the list. It would also impose fines of up to $20,000 for violating the law.

The bill is awaiting a vote in the Assembly, but some doubt such laws can prove effective against calls made from out-of-state.

"It's not going to work because you're just going to have people calling from across the borders," said Assemblyman Joseph Pennacchio, R-Morris. "The intention is good, but I doubt we will see a change."