Group targets Minnesota in campaign to stop political robo-calling

The nonprofit group Citizens for Civil Discourse says it will bring its National Political Do Not Contact Registry campaign to Minnesota to stop robocalls in the state this election season. The organization is seeking voters willing to file official complaints and demand enforcement of laws that require political phone messages begin with an introduction from a live person on the line.

The group also urges candidates to scrub from their phone lists the 50,000 voters on its registry, and counts several members of Congress among its converts.

Besides the invasion of privacy and interruptions such calls cause, particularly in states with highly contested races, Citizens for Civil Discourse objects to political communication flowing by phone in only one direction. “You simply cannot have a two-way discussion with a robot,” the group states in a release.