Those political robocalls may annoy — but they’re legal

With the 2016 presidential race coming, political robocalls will surely multiply. Though they may irritate, the calls are legal.

Political organizations are exempt from the Federal Trade Commission's Do Not Call regulations, as are charities and telephone surveyors. As the Los Angeles Times notes, Federal Communications Commission rules require only that the source of political robocalls be identified at the messages' outset.

Aaron Foss, owner of Nomorobo, a company offering a free robocall-blocking system, said he generally doesn't track political robocalls. Nevertheless, he noticed such calls to his company's clients surged by 1 million from October to November. Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson's campaign was the worst offender, he said.

Meanwhile, Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail, which offers a robocall-blocking intelligent answering system, is watching for spikes in political robocall complaints in Iowa, site of the Feb. 1 caucus, and New Hampshire, site of the Feb. 9 primary. He said his company didn't see a big spike in political robocalls from October to November.

The nonprofit group Citizens for Civil Discourse started a National Political Do Not Call Registry in fall 2007, ostensibly to shield voters from 2008 presidential campaign robocalls. That site, at stoppoliticalcalls.org, existed until September 2014, when it was shut down and absorbed by Nomorobo.

Some states are working to stop, or limit political robocalls. Arizona's Senate Judiciary Committee in February backed a bill to create a political do-not-call list. Republican state Sen. John Kavanagh proposed the measure.

The Arizona Republic reported that the Arizona secretary of state would maintain the list and any Arizona-registered election committee would have to abide by it. But, the Republic said, the bill left the door open for robocalls from out-of-state committees.

In March, Connecticut's Judiciary Committee proposed its own statewide do-not-call list for political robocalls.

"They annoy me and I think we have to do something about it," William Tong, the Stamford Democrat leading the committee, told NBCConnecticut.com.

But South Carolina in August lifted a ban on political robocalls. An appeals court threw out the law, ruling it violated constitutionally protected free speech.

The law, enacted in 1991, had banned computerized political calls including those for campaigns, Courthousenews.com reported; violators would face 30 days in jail and a $500 fine. But Republican political consultant Robert Cahaly sued the court in 2012, arguing the law breached his First Amendment rights. Cahaly, who'd worked with former South Carolina Lt. Gov. Ken Ard, was arrested in 2010 for robocalls he'd made. He was cleared of the charges but sued, thestate.com reported.

In November 2014, Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, proposed expanding the National Do Not Call Registry to include third-party political groups including Super PACs and tax-exempt nonprofit social welfare groups involved in politics.

Begich introduced his bill on the Senate floor, but it never was brought to a vote. Shortly afterward, he lost his Senate seat in the election.

Although political robocalls are legal, they're unpopular, Foss said.

"People don't want to get them," he said, "but there's really no way to get off those lists."

— Find Matthew Crowley on Twitter @copyjockey.