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Obama Violates New Hampshire Robocall Laws

By SusanUnPC on January 6, 2008 at 7:34 PM in Clinton, Obama, Presidential Candidates

The New Hampshire laws that the Obama campaign is violating include:

  1. sending “robocalls” to “do not call” numbers, and
  2. failing to identify its sponsor (Obama) until 38 seconds into the call (New Hampshire law requires identification within the first 30 seconds).

[UPDATE: Taylor Marsh has nitty gritty on the laws, and more.]

The fine? $5,000 per violation. Here’s the audio of the call (transcript below). The robocall is, of course, a smear on Sen. Hillary Clinton. I have to ask: Why an attack at this point? Isn’t his bounce sufficient?

Time magazine reports that “[t]he Clinton campaign is holding a conference call this evening to discuss the legal issues associated with the Obama campaign’s illegal activity with Kathy Sullivan and Howard Wolfson.”

There are two legal questions associated with the Obama campaign’s robocall.

1. The Obama campaign delivered this robocall to people on the do-not-call list. The Concord Monitor reported that it was “illegal under state law to send prerecorded political messages to those on the do-not-call list,” after such calls were used against Rep. Paul Hodes in 2006. In response the New Hampshire Democratic Party said that it would be “prepared and ready to pursue any legal course of action necessary to protect the people of New Hampshire from illegal activities.” [Concord Monitor, 11/6/06]

2. The call does not identify its sponsor — the Obama campaign — for 38 seconds. State law requires the sponsor to be named within 30 seconds. The robocall implies that it is sponsored by Planned Parenthood Northern New England. [RSA 664:14]

Here is the call transcript:

“Hi this is Wendy Frosh, chair of the board of Planned Parenthood in Northern New England. As people have begun to rally around Barack Obama’s call for change, the (inaudible) attacks have begun. He was a (inaudible) activist in reproductive rights for more than 20 years, I know the facts. Barack has a 100% pro-choice record and has always been a champion for women’s rights. Hillary Clinton’s last minute smears won’t protect the right to choose. But as president, Barack Obama will. Please join me in supporting Barack Obama this Tuesday. Thank you. Paid for by Obama for America.”