Infuriated by endless political robocalls, several dozen Sacramento County residents have called elections officials to complain about the flood of telephonic pitches for candidates or causes.
Brad Buyse, county campaign services manager, said some residents have talked of removing their name from voter rolls to stop what they consider a daily intrusion of privacy.
"I have never seen it like this," Buyse said of the quantity of political robocalls in the days leading to Tuesday's statewide primary.
"Myself, I'm getting four to six calls a day, when I get home, on my messages," Buyse said. "I have an unlisted number and these phone calls are still coming in, so I share the voters' frustration and concern."
Buyse said he personally received two robocalls from the same candidate within a 15-minute span this week.
His comments raise a key question: Can Californians sign up for a do-not-call list to quiet such robocalls?
Put simply, no.
Californians who register their phone numbers with the national Do Not Call Registry can stop telemarketing calls for goods and services, but charities and political organizations are exempt.
California public utilities law does not ban political robocalls but requires, when they are made from inside the state, that a live operator announce the nature of the call and terminate it upon request. Candidates easily can sidestep that requirement by contracting with out-of-state robocalling firms.
Mitchell Katz of the Federal Trade Commission, which manages the do-not-call list, said political solicitations are considered a free-speech right covered by the U.S. Constitution.
Critics of political robocalls argue that "politicians are selling something - they're selling themselves," Katz said. "But it doesn't qualify under the telemarketing sales rule. They're not selling a product or service."
The do-not-call list's political exemption applies to candidates, ballot measures, and to political parties soliciting donations, Katz said.
Anyone annoyed by political robocalls can simply hang up or, if they have an answering machine, delete such messages quickly.
"What I would say is, just hang in there," Katz said. "It's technically speech as part of the political process - and that's what makes us a democracy...The calls, I can guarantee you, will dramatically drop off the day after the election."
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