Another hoop in communications for advocacy campaigns
Ah, the grand American democracy. Behold it in all its glory with our complete access to our elected officials.
Wait…what do you mean I can’t send an email to them anymore? What? Math questions?
In a Washington Post article this week, it seems the House of Representatives wish to make it more difficult to send an e-mail to its members. They say they wish to add some extra hoops to the process to defend against astroturf campaigns (campaigns designed to look like grassroots efforts, when really they are orchestrated by big corporations or organizations).
Every year, congressmen are hit with millions of e-mails, many of which are identical form letters sent at the request of advocacy or special interest groups. Some congressmen believe that often these letters are not sent by real people, and steal time from their staff who work dilligently to reply to all legitimate correspondence.
So, it appears congress wants to add some math questions to the mix to send an e-mail, to ensure that an actual human being is behind it and not some automated machine.