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Voters can now take action to stop unwanted political calls by registering for free at, www.StopPoliticalCalls.org , launched today by the National Political Do Not Contact Registry (NPDNC). The non-partisan, non-profit organization is designed to stop politicians from calling voters at home, particularly with automated (or "robo") calls.
The NPDNC fills a void in the Federal Trade Commission’s National Do Not Call Registry (DNC). Because the First Amendment protects political speech, political calls are specifically excluded from the DNC. While Americans have registered nearly 150 million phone numbers with the DNC, Georgetown University research determined that 3 out of 4 voters do not know that political calls are exempt from the DNC. This gaping loophole has become a national problem. In the final weeks of the 2006 election, 64 percent of voters received recorded messages, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project . Approximately 40 percent received between three and nine automated phone calls during the campaign.
"I started the registry to improve the quality of life for the average American during the election season," said Shaun Dakin, founder and CEO of the NPDNC. "Many voters consider their homes to be a sanctuary and therefore consider calls from politicians and political groups to be invasive. That experience alone can turn people off from the entire electoral process. If the NPDNC can help significantly reduce political calls during the 2008 election, we will have delivered a significant win for the American family and for our political system overall."
To sign up for the free service, voters simply visit www.StopPoliticalCalls.org <http://www.stoppoliticalcalls.org> and register their contact information. The organization will then notify political campaigns of the registrant’s preferences. If politicians and political campaigns fail to honor the voter requests, they risk losing votes. Because the NPDNC has no legal authority to regulate candidates’ behavior, it must rely on the influence of large numbers of individuals to force the necessary change. The organization is asking the candidates to take a "Do Not Contact" pledge and promise not to call the numbers listed on the registry.