JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Gone are the days of campaign door knocks, but here to stay are the political calls and text messages.
Your phone may be pinging and ringing a lot more as of late, and it may be testing your patience. The Federal Communications Commission discourages companies from texting you without your consent, but political parties are exempt — even if you are on the “National Do Not Call” registry.
“It's not going to do anything for political calls. It's only for calls by reputable direct sellers," Better Business Bureau of Northeast Florida President Tom Stephens said.
He added that you’re better off going in and blocking each number to avoid getting bothered in the future. You can also reply “stop” or "opt-out" to unwanted political text messages, or "unsubscribe" to emails.
Even if you are subscribed to a particular party or candidate’s campaign alerts, Stephens advises avoiding clicking on any links in these emails or text messages.
“If they want to donate to a particular candidate, they should go directly to that candidate’s website and make the donation through their website," he explained. "That way, they're guaranteed that the money that they're getting goes to where they want to go.”
To avoid getting on call lists in the future, Stephens said you should stop and think before giving out your name and number – even for things like drawings or contests.