LINCOLN -- The Nebraska Public Service Commission said Tuesday afternoon that it is investigation whether the campaign for State Sen. Tony Fulton for state treasurer violated state law by using a telephone marketing company whose state registration had elapsed.
Gene Hand of the PSC said the commission is also exploring complaints by one of Fulton's competitors in the state treasurer's race -- Tom Nesbitt -- that Fulton conducted a "push poll" without identifying who was making the call, also required by state law.
Fulton, on Tuesday afternoon, acknowledged that his campaign was utilizing so-called automated "robo calls" to communicate who had endorsed him, but also to conduct a poll of voters.
Fulton, one of three Republican candidates for treasurer, said that he had believed that the marketing firm his campaign hired, Communications Strategies of Clayton, Mo., was properly registered with the state.
But Gene Hand of the PSC said that records indicated that the state registration of Communication Strategies expired on April 30.
The company, he said, should cease making calls until it reregisters with the state.
Fulton said his campaign had also polled about 350 voters on Monday night to gauge his level of support in the race with Nesbitt, a former Nebraska State Patrol superintendent, and Don Stenberg, a former Nebraska Attorney General.
State law requires such robo calls to include identification about who is making the call, on who's behalf the calls are being made, and to include a contact number. A script of such calls must be filed within 24 hours, Hand said.
Nesbitt said that his supporters complained that pollsters called them on Monday night from a North Carolina phone number without identifying themselves. He said that if people said they supported Nesbitt, then negative information about Nesbitt was provided to them.
The former Patrol colonel said that while such push polling might be legal, it was improper. Fulton said he told his campaign to file all necessary scripts by the end of the day, but the PSC indicated via email, just after 5 p.m., that it had not received them.
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
