Republican Charlotte City Councilman Andy Dulin used his position on the DNC Host Committee to promote two Republican candidates for Charlotte City Council in a robo call. The state campaign disclosure laws are very clear in regards to robo calls.
§ 75‑104. Restrictions on use of automatic dialing and recorded message players.
(a) Except as provided in this section, no person may use an automatic dialing and recorded message player to make an unsolicited telephone call.
(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, a person may use an automatic dialing and recorded message player to make an unsolicited telephone call only under one or more of the following circumstances:
(1) All of the following are satisfied:
a. The person making the call is any of the following:
1. A tax‑exempt charitable or civic organization.
2. A political party or political candidate.
3. A governmental official.
4. An opinion polling organization, radio station, television station, cable television company, or broadcast rating service conducting a public opinion poll.
b. No part of the call is used to make a telephone solicitation.c. The person making the call clearly identifies the person's name and contact information and the nature of the unsolicited telephone call.
You can listen to the robo call here. Listen carefully and you will notice that Dulin eliminates a component required by North Carolina disclosure laws - contact information.
In my opinion Dulin's actions are irresponsible at best and a violation of disclosure laws at worst. In an interview with Chris Miller from WBT that was posted on Twitter, Dulin claimed he wasn't an expert robo call script writer. Regardless of Dulin's script writing expertise, if he is going to cut his own robo calls he had best educate himself on the laws he is bound to follow.
Comments
Republicans would be wetting themselves
If a Democrat had done this. Anyone interested in writing an LTE to the Charlotte paper can find the link in BlueNC's handy dandy "Dear Editor" graphic to the right.
What really has Democrats steamed is that Dulin used his honorary position on the DNC Host committee in his radio spots to promote two Republicans however did not identify himself or his endorsees as Republicans.
He's a pompous ass.
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
Wetting themselves ... and suing
I may have a mistaken impression, but doesn't it seem like Republicans are better at filing complaints and legal challenges than Democrats? If we live in a world where you have to fight fire with fire, this would seem to be something Democrats should get really good at.
I think this particular infraction
Would need to have complaints directed to Roy Cooper's office and possibly the State Board of Elections and I think the complaints are stronger if they come from recipients of the call.
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Vote Democratic! The ass you save may be your own.
don't let Dulin get away with this
Let our elected Democrats and party officials know that we expect them to stick up for their fellow Democrats.
I doubt he will face any repercussions from this though.
Dulin not getting kicked off
Dulin has been asked to step down and is not getting kicked off. What a bunch of crap.