Automated and Recorded Voice Polling and Political “Robocalls”
Consumer concern about annoying or un- or mis-identified automated political calls (aka, “robocalls”), especially in a presidential election year, has driven some legislators and regulators to seek to curtail such calls. Legislation intended to protect consumers from unwanted automated calls (by requiring extra disclosures or adding such calls to a state or national Do Not Call Registry) may inadvertently circumscribe legitimate survey and opinion research calls (which merely seek to elicit public opinion about candidates, issues, and policies).