Neighbors, if you still have a land line you are very likely receiving dozens of calls from “research firms” claiming to be conducting short polls. While some polls stick to basic questions asking how you may vote, many are actually campaigning under the guise of push polls. According to Wikipedia, “A push poll is an interactive marketing technique, most commonly employed during political campaigning, in which an individual or organization attempts to influence or alter the view of voters under the guise of conducting a poll.

In a push poll, large numbers of voters are contacted briefly (often less than 60 seconds), and little or no effort is made to collect and analyze response data. Instead, the push poll is a form of telemarketing-based propaganda and rumor mongering, masquerading as a poll. Push polls may rely on innuendo or knowledge gleaned from opposition research on an opponent.”

While the legislature did not take action to ban push polls, the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) will be interested to know if this campaigning is following RCW42.17A.320 (5) noting who paid for this campaigning. I’ve received many of these polls that specifically state very negative items about a candidate and convey them as fact, yet do not state who funded the poll. An astonishing amount of money is being spent for our little state legislative seats for polls by VuPoint research, Mountain West. Research and American VuPoint are out-of-state, very negative and when asked, all anonymously funded. I urge you, neighbors to take note, ask questions and report to the PDC any of these funded campaigns that try to remain anonymous.