Though all telemarketers are governed by federal rules pertaining to the National Do Not Call Registry, all states maintain individual rules for calls placed within their state. With the recent election of a new governor, Boston is now calling for the state of Massachusetts to overhaul its long-standing do not call rules.
Though many states include do not call provisions for political parties who make solicitous calls, Massachusetts currently includes no laws pertaining to politicians and political campaigners. For the state of Massachusetts, that means that all “political speech” phone calls are free from do not call rules, meaning that with every election comes an onslaught of phone calls from political campaigners, leaving residents with no recourse.
The election that took place this month to fill the late Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat was preceded by a bitter and forceful battle between Republican candidate Scott Brown and Democratic candidate Martha Coakley. Massachusetts residents received numerous calls each day from the offices of each candidate, asking for support, taking polls, and discussing various campaigning platforms. Now the residents of Massachusetts have had enough, and are asking for the state to step in and place restrictions on “political speech” phone calls, either by limiting how often calls to each resident are allowed or by allowing residents to place their numbers on a do not call list specific to political calls.
Whether the state of Massachusetts will decide to take action and revamp their do not call rules for politicians and political speech remains to be seen. Check back in with Do Not Call Compliance for updates on all do not call compliance news and information.