Text message reminders of state registration deadlines

Thousands of people download voter registration forms every day from Rock the Vote, but they don't necessarily know the voter registration deadline for their state. We're all busy and it can sometimes take people a few days or weeks before they print and mail the registration form. One of the programs we've been testing at Rock the Vote is the use of text messages to remind young people of their registration deadline. Our early evaluation results from the primaries indicate that these SMS reminders boosted registration rates of our registrant list by about 4% points!

In Pennsylvania 68.4% of the treatment group was registered compared to 64.5% of the control group, so the text message reminder increased registration rates there by about 3.9 percentage points. In Indiana the reminder boosted registration by about 4.1% points. When we combine these two tests and add statistical controls we find that the average increase of 4.1% points is statistically significant (i.e. the increased registration is probably not due to random chance).

It appears that text message voter registration reminders can have a big impact on motivating people to send in their registration forms, presumably because voter registration deadlines are not well-known. This result is in line with related research conducted in 2006 which found that text messages were an effective Get Out the Vote (GOTV) tactic - increasing turnout by about 3% points among new registrants.

Want to translate your mobile list into political power? Make sure they're registered to vote and send them a reminder of their state's registration deadline. Then do a GOTV blast on Election Day.

Details on the Methodology: In order to test these reminders we take the list of people who have opted-in to our mobile program (powered by at&t) and randomly assign them to treatment and control groups, similar to a clinical drug trial. We send the text message reminder to the treatment group but not the control group, saying something like "Reminder: [your state]'s registration deadline is March X, so be sure to send in your registration form by then." Afterwards we look on the voter rolls and see if the treatment group is registered at a higher rate than the control group. If so, it means the program worked, but if they have about the same registration rate it may not be worth the cost of sending the text messages.

Six Million Loud

Rock the Vote's latest tally shows that 6.4 million of you have voted in primaries and caucuses so far in 2008, an incredible 2.2 million more than in the last comparable Democratic (2004) and Republican (2000) primaries.

Way to go. And the cool thing is that the 2.2 million is a lowball, because we can only compare your turnout in states that kept track of turnout in 2004 or 2000. So it doesn't even include your awesome showings in Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina, and a few other states where we know young voters rocked the polls.

Kentucky, West Virginia, and Oregon - you going to keep it up? Find out upcoming election dates or more info here.

Early Voting in IN and NC

If you're a North Carolina or Indiana voter, you don't need to wait until the May 6 Primary-- you can vote today!

Early voting sites are open all around NC until May 3. If you forgot to register to vote in North Carolina, no worries. If you vote early, you can register on site. Just remember to bring an ID, and proof of residency if you have it.

In Indiana, you can vote absentee-in-person from now until the elections

College students: you probably don't need a reminder, but May 6 is an exam day for UNC system schools, and school's out for most of you in Indiana. If you've got a Chem 101 exam or a History paper, take a break from studying and get your voting out of the way. If you're leaving for summer break, don't forget to vote before you leave town.

From state to state, young voter turnout had doubled, tripled, and sometimes even quadrupled. NC and IN might have late primaries, but people are looking to you to see if you'll keep the trend. Don't let them down!

Double Trouble

For the past couple months, I've posted updates on young voters' primary and caucus turnout and the amazing year we're having.

This morning, I decided to take a look at the big picture. And it turns out that picture is pretty awesome.

So far in 2008, more than twice as many 18-29 year olds have voted in the presidential primaries than did in 2004 or 2000. More than DOUBLE.

To be exact, more than 5.7 million voters under 30 have hit the polls in 2008 - a 2.2 million voter increase, or 109%, over the last primaries. (Want more? Check out our factsheet)

AND - turnout's gone up in every primary and caucus so far - from coast to coast.

AND - turnout's up among all age groups, but it's up far more among young voters. We're leading the charge.

Damn. Watch out. This is going to be quite a year.

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For more info, check out our factsheet or the chart below: