September Newsletter
Brian E. Corley
Supervisor of Elections Pasco County 

Dislike Robocalls? So Do We!

Like every election season, political campaigns are now in full swing.  Robocalls, automated telephone calls that deliver a recorded message, are an incredibly low-cost way for political parties and candidates to get out their message. Technology has made it possible to send thousands of robocalls every minute, but before you pick up the phone to complain - please know that these calls are not initiated by or affiliated with the Supervisor of Elections’ office!  

Political parties and candidates who utilize robocalls must comply with the disclaimer requirements required by the Florida Election Code.  Both major political parties and candidates can lawfully utilize this technology to encourage voters to request a vote-by-mail ballot, conduct get out the vote efforts, and to conduct surveys. 

Many people are unaware that voter registration information is public record in Florida.  While information such as your social security number or driver license number cannot be released or disclosed to the public, political candidates and political parties are legally allowed to request and receive that part of voter registration information which is public record.   Legislation, which passed in 2013, amended the voter registration application to include an e-mail address for the purposes of receiving sample ballots. The original law proposed that e-mail addresses not be public record.  However, that portion was of the law was vetoed, thus making e-mail addresses part of the information which is available through a public records request.  For this reason and to protect voters, I do not encourage voters to provide their email addresses.

If you have any questions, please reach out. My team and I stand ready to assist.