H.F. 72 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 68A.507 Disclosures related to 1 political telephone communications —— legislative findings —— 2 definitions. 3 1. For the purposes of this section, unless the context 4 otherwise requires: 5 a. “Legitimate poll” means a telephone communication 6 conducted by a polling firm for the purpose of a scientific 7 poll of respondents in order to gauge public opinion concerning 8 a candidate, public office holder, or ballot issue that is part 9 of a series of like telephone communications that utilizes a 10 scientific sampling technique to produce a random sample of 11 respondents. 12 b. “Political telemarketing” means the canvassing of persons 13 under the guise of performing a legitimate poll, with the 14 purpose of encouraging support of, or opposition to, a clearly 15 identified candidate for public office or the passage or defeat 16 of a clearly identified ballot issue. 17 2. The general assembly finds that political telephone 18 communication is increasingly used in political campaigns in 19 this state in a deceptive manner, including but not limited 20 to the use of political telemarketing, also known as push- 21 polling, where an anonymous telephone communication is 22 designed to appear as a legitimate poll, but is in fact used 23 to communicate certain negative information related to a 24 candidate or ballot issue. The general assembly declares that 25 a compelling public interest exists to identify the source of 26 funding of telephone communications related to elections in 27 order to prevent corruption and deceit at the expense of the 28 electorate and to preserve accountability for expenditures made 29 in connection with political campaigns. 30 3. A candidate, an authorized representative of a 31 candidate, a candidate’s committee, or a political committee 32 that engages either in a telephone communication for the 33 purpose of soliciting contributions or in a telephone 34 communication that has the effect of promoting or opposing the 35 -1- LSB 1742HH (3) 84 jr/sc 1/ 3

H.F. 72 nomination or election of a candidate for public office or the 1 passage of a ballot issue shall disclose all of the following 2 by the end of the telephone communication: 3 a. The identity of the individual who is communicating and 4 the entity with which the individual is affiliated, if any. 5 b. The individual or entity that paid for the telephone 6 communication. If a candidate’s committee or political 7 committee has paid for or authorized the telephone 8 communication, the name of the candidate’s committee or 9 political committee shall be disclosed. If any person other 10 than a candidate’s committee or political committee has 11 paid for or authorized the telephone communication, the 12 communication shall also state whether or not the communication 13 has been authorized by the candidate intended to benefit from 14 the communication and shall state whether the communication is 15 an independent expenditure. 16 c. The name, telephone number, and address of an individual 17 whom the communication recipient can contact for further 18 information regarding the telephone communication. 19 4. An individual who, on behalf of, at the direction of, 20 or in cooperation with a political committee, engages either 21 in a telephone communication for the purpose of soliciting 22 contributions or in a telephone communication that has the 23 effect of promoting or opposing the nomination or election of a 24 candidate for public office or the passage of a ballot issue 25 shall disclose all of the following at the commencement of the 26 telephone communication: 27 a. The identity of the individual who is communicating and 28 the entity with which the individual is affiliated, if any. 29 b. The individual or entity that paid for the telephone 30 communication. If a political committee has paid for or 31 authorized the telephone communication, the name of the 32 political committee shall be disclosed. If any person 33 other than the candidate, a candidate’s committee, or a 34 political committee has paid for or authorized the telephone 35 -2- LSB 1742HH (3) 84 jr/sc 2/ 3

H.F. 72 communication, the communication shall also state whether or 1 not the communication has been authorized by the candidate 2 intended to benefit from the communication. 3 c. The name, telephone number, and address of an individual 4 whom the communication recipient can contact for further 5 information regarding the telephone communication. 6 5. The board shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A 7 establishing procedures to administer this section. 8 EXPLANATION 9 This bill creates new Code section 68A.507 that requires 10 the disclosure of certain information at the commencement 11 of or by the end of political telephone communications that 12 solicit contributions or that have the effect of promoting or 13 opposing a candidate or ballot issue. The caller must disclose 14 the name and affiliation of the caller, the name of the 15 individual or entity that paid for the telephone communication, 16 whether a candidate who will benefit from the communication 17 has authorized the communication, and the name, address, and 18 telephone number of an individual whom the person can contact 19 for further information regarding the communication. 20 Violations of this provision are punishable under Code 21 section 68A.701 as a serious misdemeanor, which carries a 22 penalty of a fine of $315 to $1,875, and may also include a 23 sentence of up to one year in jail. 24 The bill also contains definitions of “legitimate poll” 25 and “political telemarketing”, and contains a statement of 26 legislative findings regarding political telemarketing and 27 push-polling as described in the bill. 28 -3- LSB 1742HH (3) 84 jr/sc 3/ 3