July 28, 2006
Going Mobile
Mobile Voter, a San Francisco based not-for-profit, has started a voter registration drive program through text messaging called Txtvoter. The program, which is intended to register younger voters, was done with grants from GWU’s Young Voter Strategies and the Pew Charitable Trust. Oh yeah, and it’s pretty much free.
Here’s how it works: Mobile phone users can text the word “voter” to short code address 75444 and answer a series of questions via text message to complete the voter application process. A few weeks later, a completed voter registration form arrives at their doorstep. The user just needs to sign it, date it and send it back. Mobile Voter, for better or worse, keeps track of the mobile user every step of the way. If they see you haven’t finished the registration process, they will send you a text message reminder. They even have “planet coding” on the snail mail envelopes to see when your voter registration is sent back in the mail. The final step? Txtvoter will send you an email on Election Day remind you to vote and where your precinct location is.
Alright, so the cellular version of big brother might be watching -- and texting -- you. So here’s where a campaign’s new cheap voter registration drive can happen: The site’s newest feature lets users create accounts in which users can invite others to register to vote. For example, if you text the word “Hotline” to the short code, Txtvoter would take care of the registration, and we would be able to keep track of your progress. Txtvoter gives away recruits’ registration information (name, address and if they register online, email) for free if they’re going to individuals, c(3)’s and other non-profits who use the information in a non-partisan way. But political campaigns can get the same info for market price – around 10 cents a contact -- according to a company spokesperson.
It doesn’t seem like a practical solution for large-scale campaigns, for example anything statewide. But for races on the cheap, for example local and statehouse races, it’s a pretty good deal for a youth GOTV effort [SHIRA TOEPLITZ].
Posted at 09:50 AM
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Jessica | 01.28.08 08:07 AM
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