e.politics: online advocacy tools & tactics

More Political Uses of Text Messaging

August 24th, 2006

Schwarzenegger’s texting updates from the California GOP convention, and a new campaign is planning to register young Latino voters from their cell phones. Here’s more about the technology Voto Latino’s using, which is open to other groups:

With TxtVoter, a free and easy-to-use service, participating organizations and individuals can use text-messaging to register voters. After using their cell phone to text a specific keyword (just like in American Idol), users text their name and address. The system then mails them a pre-filled registration form, including clearly worded, state-specific instructions. Alternatively, individuals can text in their email address for customized online registration. TxtVoter sends reminders to vote on Election Day, complete with polling location. TxtVoter also lets organizations track completion rates and build their lists by collecting data provided by users. The tool is free and publicly available at www.txtvoter.org for anyone and any organization to use.

Thanks to Salon’s War Room for pointing out these two juicy bits — note the nice for-newbies explanation of what text messages are. Beware getting a tu-mah from that cell phone, Arnold.

– cpd