Campaign's in full swing, so brace yourself for 'robo calls'

Last week he tape-recorded an auto-dialed call critical of U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. He then forwarded a digital recording of the call to the media and to Lewis' office. His action has triggered a request for an investigation by Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker and a pledge by a Georgia legislator to seek a ban on political "robo calls."

The attorney general has expressed concern that the call Thigpen and several thousand others received failed to identify the caller, as required by federal law.

Thigpen said such violations are routinely committed by telemarketers who, during this election season, are bombarding voters.

"Really, I've been frustrated for years," said Thigpen, a theatrical set designer. "I should be able to tell someone, 'Please do not call,' and they should honor that."

They should, but they don't have to.

The 2003 law creating the National Do Not Call Registry exempted telemarketers for tax-exempt, non-profit organizations.

So while commercial calls have tailed off, calls from political candidates are picking up the slack.

According to the non-partisan Pew Research Center, nearly two-thirds of registered voters (64 percent) received computerized calls in the final stages of the 2006 elections. Pew also reported last December that 80 percent of likely voters in Iowa received automated phone calls from presidential campaigners.

The computer dialers have now turned their attention to 24 states where the next round of primaries will be held Tuesday.

But the fusillade of automated calls might have an unintended consequence.

Shaun Dakin, a Washington activist and founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry, said the coming wave of prerecorded calls might drive more voters to his organization.

"People don't like phone calls in general, they don't like volunteer phone calls, but they absolutely hate the robo calls," Dakin said. "There's not a chance to yell at someone or to have a discussion."