Is there a Do Not Call number we can use to avoid those annoying and redundant political calls?

Since 2003, Americans have been able to opt out of receiving most telemarketing calls by putting their phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry — and millions of them have done so.

The Federal Trade Commission said the registry now has more than 221 million telephone numbers on it. To put your name on it, visit www.donotcall.gov.

The registry only contains phone numbers — no other personally identifiable information — and the FTC said it does not keep a record of whether the numbers are land line or cell phones.

But there are some exemptions to the Do Not Call rules.

Because of the limits to FTC’s authority, the registry does not apply to political calls or calls from non-profits and charities — though the registry does cover telemarketers calling on behalf of charities.

Also, calls from legitimate “survey” organizations — like Nielson Research — are not covered because they are not offering to sell anything to consumers.

Calls are also permitted from companies with which you have done or sought to do business. Specifically, a company can call you up to 18 months after you last did business with it.

Dual citizenship

Can you hold senior government positions if you have dual citizenship(s)? If during a term of office, an elected official obtains a dual-citizenship, are they required to report this secondary citizenship? Can an official continue in their government job with multiple citizenships?

There’s no disclosure requirement in U.S. law regarding dual citizenship when running for office, and nothing specific in conflict of interest rules when running for office as a dual citizen.

It is a tricky subject, though, bringing up questions of divided loyalties. Dual citizenship can also present a security issue whether to permit access to classified information.

Ted Cruz was born both a U.S. and a Canadian dual citizen because he was born in Alberta, Canada, but his mother is a U.S. citizen. Cruz said he was unaware of his Canadian citizenship until 2013 and chose to formally renounce his Canadian citizenship in 2014 to remove doubt about where his loyalties lay.

l

The Informer is written by Crystal Stevenson, American Press executive editor. To ask a question, call 494-4098 and leave a voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com.