Absolutely. I received several calls on my cell phone yesterday to get out and vote in Republican primary. I'm a registered Democrat! I don't remember handing out my name and number to Chris Cannon or his challenger.

Would it make a difference if the calls came from a live person? What if the person asking you to get out and vote were a volunteer?

I don't want any telemarketing calls on my cell phone. I will tolerate poliotical calls more, but automated calls are still pretty far out of bounds. And calls from a volunteer asking you to vote are sacred.

It is duplicitous that both federal (TCPA) and state law both have telemarketing provisions, restricting the time of the call, prohibiting recorded calls and calls to cell phones, and enforcing "Do Not Call List" provisions, but laws at both levels have significant exemptions for politicians.

Shame on them.

Tom, you don't think Democracy is qualitatively more important than selling a new scent of soap, or whatever telemarketeers are doing? (I never stay on the line to hear them.)

I thought cell phones were supposed to be exempt from telemarketing phone callings - mainly because you have to pay for incoming minutes, and you don't have a way to tell who the phone call is from until you answer it - and then you get charged minutes.

I'm wondering if you guys have given out your cell phone number somewhere, like on your voter registration, or something like that.

Even if I have given out my number, my wife has not. Her number is closely guarded. Also, my fax line received a couple of these calls. The fax line is audible for the first few seconds and I would hear, "Hi, I'm running for..." before the machine would hang up on them." I'm thinking a random digit dialer found our numbers; but even then, cell phones have identifiable prefixes.

Political parties use marketing databases and they have your cell numbers (and know what your read and what you eat and where you travel and more) from the companies that sell you service.

@Bryan: Democracy, yes. Politicians, no.

I realize I asked for some of it when I registered to vote, but why isn't there something as simple as an opt-out provision on voter/party registration? A recorded message can't respond to my request to opt-out from further calls--that's why telemarketers can't use them.

Since lawmakers chose fit to exlude their political campaigns from the definition of "telephone solicitation" (Utah code 13-25a-103; and 47 USC § 227) it would be nice if they would voluntarily choose to be considerate.

Tom, I couldn't agree more!