LANSING – In a move to increase transparency and accountability in elections and political campaigns, the House today passed legislation requiring automated telephone calls targeted at voters – or "robocalls" – to state the identity of the person paying for the call as well as his or her phone number or address at the beginning of the call. It further restricts the time when robocalls can be made to between the hours of 9 a.m. and 8 p.m.
"This is a step toward ensuring candidates are held accountable for their actions," said State Representative Lisa Brown (D-West Bloomfield), the sponsor of the plan and a member of the House Ethics and Elections Committee. "Voters have a right to know who is contacting them. People should not be allowed to hide behind anonymous phone calls filled with half-truths and misinformation."
Currently, the Michigan Campaign Finance Act requires that printed campaign materials and TV and radio ads contain the name and address of the person paying for them and a disclaimer by the candidate. The law does not address telephone or electronic campaigning, allowing those communications to contain unsubstantiated claims without identifying a source. Brown's bill calls for these telephone and electronic campaign communications to add a disclaimer stating who is behind the communication.
Violating the new provisions of the plan would be a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in prison and fines of $500 for the first offense, $1,000 for the second offense and $2,500 for three or more offenses.
"Anonymous robocalls have clouded political campaigns for too long without proper regulation," Brown said. "We need to
do everything we can to safeguard the integrity of our electoral process."