• Mail voting has been sketchy so far – dead people voting and the like
• In 2004, in WA nearly 70% of voters opted to vote by mail
• King County (seattle) is set to go mail only in 2007
• OR is the pioneer – mail only as of 2000
• Advantages
o Can take your time to decipher ballot initiatives
o Don’t have to wait in line
o Convenience turns out voters
 Ie: Oregon’s turnout was 87% - highest in the nation
o Cheaper to manage
• Changes the nature of campaigning – extends it over the period of a month – makes it more expensive
• People are annoyed when they have to pay return postage
• Can cause tabulation delays
• Has its faults – but not any more than in-person voting.

Thoughts: wonder if UI of voting by text is feasible – or even desirable – are there too many options? There was that example of voting by text in Switzerland, but it was only on a single issue vote.

If vote by mail is OK – perhaps can be combined with voter registration (equivalent to same-day voter registration). So, citizen could request ballot/registration form via text (or other method), receive it, send it in and vote/register all in one fell swoop. Wonder if Oregon would go for it?

Economist. March 18th. Stamp Of Approval. P. 46

The innovative joint initiative between CTV and The Globe and Mail will be available, at no additional cost, to any Canadian mobile phone subscriber.

via MOpocket

i wonder how they're doing ID verification - didn't see anything about it in these articles.

see: http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/National/20051228095128/Article/indexb_html
and
http://web.utm.my/today/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=231

Once the carriers figure out that their 50% cut is too high to generate business, this type of SMSing is going to be really good for non-profit fundraising. Even at small events - non profits will be able to use phones as a mobile & personal credit-card reader or sorts - as a much more efficient way to gather donations. Rather than hit everyone on their way in to an event for a check - or follow up with them later - the speaker can fire up the crowd and then ask for phone-based donation. Of course, the Bono-style system can be very useful currently simply to gather constituent data.

re: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051203/en_nm/textmessaging_dc

I voted absentee ballot this time, which I thought would give me more

It doesn’t seem like 2004 was that long ago – it's so plainly obvious now - but the conclusion of these studies makes it evident that there was a question as to the efficacy of the Web in political campaigns prior to ’04.

* 50% of 10-18 yr olds have their own phone
* verizon & cingular have largest share of this demographic
* sprint/nextel has smaller share, but high brand awareness
* 75% of surveyed kids say their bill is paid by parents
* parents generally chose plan, kids chose phone
* yankee group study from 7/05 found that 50% of teens 13-17 would spend addl money on ringtones, music
* 53% of kids have downloaded games

http://www.gfk.com
http://www.emarketer.com/Report.aspx?kids_oct05
avail only by purchase, unfortunately...

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=106&sid=6201250&cKey=1130692769000

"Incorporating mobile technology into a political campaign has got to move beyond the same old e-mail / database way of doing things. It has to incorporate the already established networks that mobile users already take part in which includes the social spaces and conversations of everyday life."

Justin R. Oberman is a freelance writer, blog maestro and consultant. Among other things, he's the mobile correspondent for the Personal Democracy Forum, founder of Digitisms, webmaster for whatwoulddumbledoredo.org, and created the Politics 2 Go Moblog for the recent conference of the same name, sponsored by George Washington University's Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet. He has a Master's Degree in Philosophy from New School University.

There have been a few examples of political use of SMS overseas ... South Africa, the Philippines, etc. What can political organizers in the US learn from these examples, and in what ways is the US political playing field different from Europe and the rest of the world, when it comes to mobile?

This is an excellent question on many levels. It’s interesting. There are no doubt substantial differences in the ways that the United States and the rest of the world use and perceive the mobile medium. And excuse me for getting philosophical here, but these differences are in fact rooted in the different ways technology is perceived, amongst other things. This is especially the case when it comes to PC’s, mobile devices and the online world of the Internet.

A Political Glossary For the Mobile World

15th Amendment - This amendment to the Constitution states that the right to vote "shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” It was ratified in 1870.

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