Could automated political survey calls ask South Carolina voters to press phone keys?

Plain-English summary

In 2010, a South Carolina legislator asked whether automated political survey calls could ask live recipients to answer by pressing a telephone key. The AG said organizations could conduct such calls if they merely gathered a “snapshot” of voter opinion and did not advocate a particular candidate. It contrasted neutral polling with the automated advocacy the statute aimed to restrict.

The opinion also reiterated an earlier distinction: the AG believed political recorded calls could be delivered to answering machines but not to live answerers. Its approval of interactive survey calls depended on their content and purpose, not simply on the use of a keypad.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2010. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later
AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current
legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy
mentioned here.

Common questions

Did requiring a keypad response make an automated poll illegal? A: The AG said no. A political survey using phone keys could be made if it sought voter opinion without advocating a candidate.

Could the poll promote a candidate and still rely on this opinion? A: The AG's answer was conditioned on the call not advocating a particular candidate. It distinguished candidate advocacy from a survey collecting opinions.

Did the AG treat answering-machine calls differently?
A: Yes. It restated its view that recorded political messages to answering machines were allowed while comparable calls to live answerers were not.

Background and statutory framework

The request referred to organizations using automated surveys and to the state's automatic-dialing law. The AG quoted the statute's definition of an automatically dialed announcing device, its political-call coverage, and exceptions. Its answer focused on whether the call was advocacy or a neutral poll.

Citations and references

The opinion discussed South Carolina Code section 16-7-446 as printed in its source text.

Official title

Questioning whether automated survey calls for political purposes that asks a question that requires that the recipient use the phone key pad to answer are legal.

Requester

The Honorable Thad T. Viers, Member, House of Representatives

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/september-22-2010/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/viers-t-t-os-9138-9-22-10-political-telephone-calls.pdf

Original opinion text

H ENRY McMASTER
AITORNEY G ENERAL

September 22, 2010

The Honorable Thad T. Viers
Member, House of Representatives
P.O. Box 31231
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29588
Dear Representative Viers:
In a letter to this office you stated that it is your understanding that South Carolina law allows and the Attorney General's office has concluded that political telephone calls are acceptable to telephone answering machines but not to live answerers. You are correct in your assumption in that we believe such calls are allowed inasmuch as the recorded telephone message is delivered to an answering machine and not to a live person.

You also stated that certain organizations, such as Survey USA, routinely conduct automated survey telephone calls in this State that require the recipient' s responses via a phone key. You have questioned whether these automated survey calls for political purposes that asks a question that requires that the recipient use the phone key pad to answer are legal. S.C. Code Ann.§ 16-7-446 states that (A) "Adad" means an automatically dialed announcing device which delivers a recorded message without assistance by a live operator for the purpose of making an unsolicited consumer telephone call as defined in Section 16-17- 445(A)(3). Adad calls include automatically announced calls of a political nature including, but not limited to, calls relating to political campaigns. (B) Adad calls are prohibited except: (I) in response to an express request of the person called; (2) when primarily connected with an existing debt or contract, payment or performance of which has not been completed at the time of the call;

REMBERT C. D ENNIS BUlLDING • PosT OPFJcE Box 11549 • CoLUMBlA, SC 292 11 -1549 • TELEPHONB 803-734-3970 • FACSIMJLE 803-253-6283

The Honorable Thad T. Viers
Page2
September 22, 2010

(3) in response to a person with whom the telephone solicitor has an existing business relationship or has had a previous business relationship. (C) Adad calls which are not prohibited under subsection (B): (1) are subject to Section 16-17-445(B)(l ), (2), and (3); (2) shall disconnect immediately when the called party hangs up; (3) are prohibited after seven p.m. or before eight a.m.; (4) may not ring at hospitals, police stations, fire departments, nursing homes, hotels, or vacation rental units. In the opinion of this office, organizations, such as Survey USA, may routinely conduct automated survey telephone calls for political purposes in this State that require the recipient's responses via a phone key. The purpose of the ADAD law is to prohibit the unwarranted invasion by automated dialing devices in order to promote advocacy of a "product" including a particular candidate. Thus, as long as these polling calls, even if they are of a political nature, do not advocate a particular political candidate but simply obtain a "snapshot" opinion of a voter, they may be made.

With kind regards, I am,
Very truly yours,
Henry McMaster
Attorney General

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By:

REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY:

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Robert D. Cook
Deputy Attorney General

Charles H. Richardson
Senior Assistant Attorney General