SAN FRANCISCO-Over-the-phone voting may be decades away, but a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization allowed would-be voters to use their phones to obtain voter-registration materials for today’s elections.
Mobile Voter allows users to request registration forms via conventional mail by sending a text message to a short code using their handset. The service also sends text message reminders to those who’ve registered through Mobile Voter to vote on election day.
Mobile Voter is promoting the service jointly with community groups through billboards in the San Francisco area, and teams of roving volunteers walked the city’s densely populated areas to encourage people to use the system.
“What’s unique about Mobile Voter is that it enables people to respond directly and instantly to outreach techniques,” the company said in a press release. “When stopped at a traffic light, in line at a local coffee shop, or walking down the street, people will be able to request registration forms directly from that location.”
Cell phones are increasingly becoming a valuable tool in political campaigns and elections around the world. Text messages played a crucial role in the 2004 Spanish election, and more than 11 percent of the residents of a small Swiss village used SMS to vote in an election last month. Prior to the election, voters were mailed a PIN code they included in their text message vote.
