Election season is just around the corner, and so is the inevitable deluge of phone calls from political candidates.
But one Washington nonprofit is starting a political do-not-contact list to try to prevent campaigns and political interest groups from disturbing dinnertime.
While political speech is exempted from the Federal Trade Commission’s National Do Not Call Registry, the newly founded Citizens for Civil Discourse is hoping to persuade politicians not to contact those who sign up for the list.
“If people have sanity in their homes, they might have a higher esteem for politicians,” said Shaun Dakin, president and chief executive officer of the nonpartisan Citizens for Civil Discourse, which started in June. Dakin, a Democrat who made calls on behalf of the Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign in 2004, says he is “sitting out this election.”
Individuals can log on to the group’s Web site and register one phone number for free. It costs $1.24 to register more phone numbers, addresses and e-mail addresses.
Customers also can indicate whether there are methods by which they wish specified political parties to contact them, which Dakin hopes will attract politicians.
He plans to charge politicians, political parties and interest groups for the lists and require them to sign a legally binding contract and pledge.
Telemarketers and other companies have to pay a fee to access the FTC’s list, which has about 145.5 million phone numbers registered.
Some are skeptical the concept will work.
“If it was provided as a free service, people would be willing to expend the effort. It’s a lot to ask them to spend money,” said political communications strategist Matt Eventoff, president of Princeton Public Speaking.
One Virginia lawmaker, Arlington Del. Bob Brink, attempted to ban automated “robocalls” of all kinds.
He said he is concerned that the new list, which would apply to both robocalls and live calls, could “discourage neighbors [involved in politics] from calling neighbors and talking about politics.”
