Thursday New Tools Feature: TXT 2 GOTV

A new study released yesterday from the New Voters Project and CREEDO Mobile found that "text message reminders sent to young voters on Super Tuesday increased turnout by 4.6 percentage points among the targeted population." This means that text messaging is by far the most cost-effective GOTV technique:

The bang-for-the-buck factor makes texting an attractive option for political campaigns. However, campaigns are not the only ones using texts to get out the vote; a number of voter groups, including the New Voters Project, are running GOTV text campaigns. CREEDO Mobile has also set up a Web site, textoutthevote.com, which lets you add the mobile numbers of your friends and family and then automatically sends them a customized reminder to vote on election day - give it a try, it's easy and free.

As this study shows, mobile technology is becoming an increasingly powerful force in the politics of the 21st century. To learn more about using SMS messaging effectively, be sure to read our New Politics Institute's New Tools paper, Go Mobile Now. Texting has already had a real, measurable effect in this election cycle, and will be critical to getting out key voting blocs on election day, but the true potential of mobile-powered politics has yet to be tapped.