State looks at calls during congressional race

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By NATE JENKINS / The Associated Press

The Nebraska Public Service Commission is investigating allegations about automated phone calls targeting former congressional candidate Scott Kleeb during the last days of the campaign.

The investigation ultimately could lead to allegations that federal laws were broken.

Kleeb, a Democratic ranch hand, lost to Republican state Sen. Adrian Smith in the race for the 3rd District seat.

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Scott Kleeb

Scott Kleeb

Kleeb’s offices were flooded in the final days of the race with complaints from people upset about receiving repeated, automated phone calls with poor-quality recordings of Kleeb’s voice.

Kleeb and his supporters believe that someone recorded a legitimate automated call of Kleeb’s targeting voters and then used it to flood some homes with dozens of calls. The theory is that such a flood of calls would anger the recipient and steer them away from voting for Kleeb or casting a ballot at all.

“Based on the calls we got in our office from people saying they were not going to vote, did it influence the election? Absolutely,” Kleeb said.

The PSC requires that people who use so-called autodialers get permits, make calls only during certain hours of the day and clearly identify the source of the calls.

In a tape recording of one of the calls obtained by the PSC, where Kleeb’s voice is heard, the source is not identified, according to an official involved in the investigation.

“If it’s intentional, it looks bad,” said Gene Hand, director of telecommunications for the PSC.

Derek Brown of Kearney said he received about a half-dozen calls with Kleeb’s voice throughout the course of a Saturday just before the election. The first call came at about 7 a.m. and he did not recall sources of the calls being identified.

“It was like I was getting yelled at,” Brown said of the recordings. “I wasn’t going to vote either way, but I thought it was really annoying.”

The PSC is trying to track down the source of the calls. Fines could be levied if it is found that rules were broken.

Victor Covalt III, an attorney working for the state Democratic Party on the issue, said the findings of the PSC investigation could lead to legal action, including a complaint that the calls violated a Federal Communications Commission rule that says automated calls must identify their source at the beginning of the message.

Depending on the results of the investigation, he may also complain that the calls violated a state law against deceptive trade.

“We’re serious about it, and we’re serious about elections being honest,” Covalt said. “If behavior like this is not illegal, it should become illegal.”

Smith said his campaign did not place automated calls using Kleeb’s voice and is not ruling out the possibility the calls were placed because of a technical malfunction caused by a vendor used by Kleeb.

“I hope they get to the bottom of it,” said Smith, a Republican.

Hand also said it’s possible the calls were caused by technical problems.

But Hand said one troublesome aspect of the case is that it appears people such as Brown received a barrage of the poor-quality recorded messages.

“It looks like they called people time after time after time,” Hand said.

The National Republican Congressional Committee used automated calls in at least 53 competitive House races nationwide, and campaign reports show the NRCC helped pay for phone banks used in the Smith-Kleeb race. According to Federal Election Commission filings, the NRCC paid a Florida firm nearly $3,500 for phone banks to oppose Kleeb, but it is unclear whether the money helped pay for the calls that spurred the complaints to the PSC.

Kleeb did not file a complaint with the PSC, nor did his campaign. He said phone calls from people complaining about the automated calls overwhelmed a Hastings campaign office and forced the campaign to stop placing its own calls in the final days of the campaign.