SFVote Campaign

10.11.05. San Francisco

Mobile Voter announces the launch of its SFVote drive in association with the Chinese American Voter Education Committee (CAVEC). This campaign aims to register voters in San Francisco using Mobile Voter's text messaging service. By texting keyword "vote" to 80837 [note: Mobile Voter's shortcode has changed to 75444 since publication of this press release], participants will receive registration forms and instructions about how to register to vote.

The first of its kind in the U.S., this effort is an experiment on the edge of mobile technology and politics. The project will evaluate the effectiveness of different outreach methods including billboards (see photo below), taxi-top displays, and magazine ads. These traditional advertising methods will be complimented with "Voter Guides" - a roving team of volunteers who will visit densely populated areas of the city - encouraging people to text Mobile Voter. The drive will also coordinate with local establishments to galvanize their customers to use Mobile Voter.

What's unique about Mobile Voter is that it enables people to respond directly and instantly to outreach techniques. There is no Web address to remember or flyer to carry home. While 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.

By using a distinct keyword for each location, Mobile Voter will be able to evaluate the efficacy of the various promotion techniques and locations. For example, the system will track number of respondents to one billboard using keyword "vote" and another across town using keyword "ivote" - at a Coffee Shop using keyword "coffee" and a tea shop using keyword "bubbletea."

By the end of the campaign, Mobile Voter and CAVEC will have registered voters across the city, tested and evaluated different outreach methods, and conducted the first entirely text-based voter registration program in the U.S.

Voter registration is a key barrier to voting - especially among youth. "Nearly one-third of college students say that they do not know how to request an absentee ballot - 92% say that they would vote 'if the process of registering and voting by absentee ballot were made easier...' says the Harvard University Institute of Politics. As the native tongue of young people, texting can break down these barriers.

Billboard at Geary & 11th Ave in San Francisco:
[note: Mobile Voter's shortcode has changed to 75444. The billboards now show the new shortcode, but these pictures do not]

Billboard at Lombard & Divisidero in San Francisco:
[note: Mobile Voter's shortcode has changed to 75444. The billboards now show the new shortcode, but these pictures do not]