ROBOCALLS.
Written by Mark Crispin Miller
to The New York Times,
25 Apr 2007

To the editor,
Re “Limits Sought On ‘Robocalls’ In Campaigns” (front page, April 25) it is good to see the Times devote a front-page story to state lawmakers' attempts, throughout the nation, to suppress the use of robocalls in our elections. By and large, such messages are as dishonest as they are obnoxious; and, tragically, that tactic is but one of many that now threaten the integrity of our democracy.

Your article misleadingly implies, however, that such robocalls were used by both sides in the last election. While some Republican lawmakers now denounce the practice and back laws against it, there have been no reports of Democratic candidates resorting to it: Scott Kleeb, the Nebraskan whose congressional campaign, as you reported, was sabotaged by robocalls, ran as a Democrat; and in Missouri’s Senate race, the robocalls were all made on behalf of Republican Jim Talent against his Democratic adversary, Claire McCaskill. And so it went in many other races coast to coast.

Historically, both parties have, of course, engaged in fraud. Since 2000, however, it is primarily the Republicans who have relied on such illicit tactics.

Mark Crispin Miller
New York, NY

EDITOR’S NOTE:
The writer is the author of Fooled Again: The Real Case for Election Reform. A new paperback edition of the book contains an extensive discussion of Robocalls.