Hold the phone, I'm not voting.

• Position: TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS - Law against recorded campaign telephone messages - Brief article

Two-thirds of registered voters received recorded campaign telephone messages in 2006, according to a survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. Known as "robo-calls," this form of political advertisement is becoming increasingly popular as the cost for the technology decreases and the costs for mailing campaign material increases. Some consider robo-calls annoying and an invasion of privacy. But others say they are protected speech under the First Amendment.

States have developed various approaches to regulating a vast majority of telemarketing calls. Most states, for example, maintain a do-not-call list for consumers who don't want to get them. But political calls are permissible in many states, including to those on the do-not-call list.

Over the last several years, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Carolina and Wyoming have passed legislation to restrict or regulate robo-calls. New Hampshire's law requires that within the first 30 seconds of the start of the political message, the caller must provide either the name of the candidate or organization and...