Virginia Code 24.2-959: Requirements for campaign telephone calls sponsored by a candidate or candidate campaign committee.
It shall be unlawful for any candidate or candidate campaign committee to make campaign telephone calls without disclosing, before the conclusion of each telephone call, information to identify the candidate or candidate campaign committee who has authorized and is paying for the calls unless such call is terminated prematurely by means beyond the maker’s control.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 24.2-959
- campaign committee: means "campaign committee" as defined in § Virginia Code 24.2-955.1
- Campaign telephone calls: means a series of telephone calls or text messages, electronic or otherwise, made (i) to 25 or more telephone numbers in the Commonwealth, (ii) during the 180 days before a general or special election or during the 90 days before a primary or other political party nominating event, (iii) conveying or soliciting information relating to any candidate or political party participating in the election, primary or other nominating event, and (iv) under an agreement to compensate the telephone callers. See Virginia Code 24.2-955.1
- Candidate: means "candidate" as defined in § Virginia Code 24.2-955.1
- Includes: means includes, but not limited to. See Virginia Code 1-218
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Telephone call: means any single telephone call or text message, electronic or otherwise, that when combined with other telephone calls or text messages constitutes campaign telephone calls. See Virginia Code 24.2-955.1
The person making the telephone call shall disclose the name of the candidate.
It shall be unlawful for any candidate or candidate campaign committee making campaign telephone calls to intentionally modify the caller identification information of any campaign telephone call for the purpose of misleading the recipient as to the identity of the caller. If the call is made from an automatic dialing-announcing device and caller identification information includes a name associated with the telephone number, then the caller identification information shall include either the name of the candidate or candidate campaign committee as it appears on the statement of organization that has authorized and is paying for the calls, or the vendor conducting the calls on behalf of the candidate or candidate campaign committee. “Automatic dialing-announcing device” means the same as that term is defined in § 59.1-518.1.
It shall also be unlawful (i) for any candidate or candidate campaign committee who contracts for campaign telephone calls to fail to provide to the persons making the telephone calls the identifying information required by this section or (ii) for any person to provide a false or fictitious name or address when providing the identifying information required.
2000, c. 874, § 24.2-1014.1; 2006, cc. 787, 892; 2010, c. 323; 2020, c. 615.