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For immediate release.
November 12, 2002
Contact: Jesse Rutledge, N.C. Center for Voter Education, (919) 839-1200

Internet May Be Transforming Campaigns and Elections

Raleigh - The Internet revolution created speculation about how it might change politics, with on-line voting and virtual debates. While those ideas may still be some years away, one thing is clear: more voters are "wired" and getting political information from the Internet than ever before.

The N.C. Center for Voter Education maintains a family of websites that are intended to provide information to voters during election years. Together these sites, received over 50,000 hits in the first seven days of November leading up to the election. That's up dramatically from previous election years.

"A lot of people say that voters really don't care about the issues and are too lazy to do their own research about the candidates," says Center director Chris Heagarty, "but our results suggest that people do care and are hungry for more information."

By going to the Center's websites, voters could download voter registration forms, get critical information about where and when they could vote, who was running for office offices and what functions those offices performed. They could also watch a video urging them to cast their ballot on Election Day, listen to a radio spot about the importance of judges, and research candidate information for statewide judicial offices using the Center's Internet Guide to Judicial Elections (www.ncjudges.org), which featured personal statements from each of the participating candidates and two-minute video messages from many of them.

Political campaigns and news organizations also made increased use of the Internet during this election year. Political advertisements, which were limited to no more than a minute, would often direct voters to web sites where more detailed information was provided. Some campaigns maintained multiple websites: one where they spread their candidate's virtues, and another to focus criticism on their opposition. In the US Senate campaign in North Carolina, supporters of both Elizabeth Dole and Erskine Bowles, maintained multiple websites. The information on these sites was biased toward the candidates or parties paying for the commercials, but the use of these sites allowed a much greater exchange of information than in traditional television advertisements.

Many news organizations, particularly television stations, supplemented their stories with expanded coverage on their websites. Some provided their own voter guides or other collections of candidate information for visitors.

In addition to being used a communication tool, the Internet has allowed technologically savvy campaigns greater options for organizing. Web sites can solicit campaign contributions on-line by accepting credit cards and using encryption technology. Supporters can sign up for tasks online, or subscribe to email newsletters. Campaign workers can be organized by e-mail, databases of voter data can be downloaded from the campaign's network onto wireless "personal digital assistants", such as the Palm Pilot, and then volunteers can enter feedback directly into the central database as they knock on doors and talk to voters.

Ben Chao, Vice President of Fletcher & Rowley Consulting, a national political consulting firm agrees. "The Internet has revolutionized political organization. Campaigns can now communicate in relative real-time with every campaign worker and supporter. Today we can do with one click what used to take several hours, and it's pushed political organizing to a new level."

Not every Internet campaign innovation is a success says Heagarty, noting that unsolicited campaign e-mails can back-fire, causing voters to feel like their privacy has been invaded and to resent the candidates behind such activities. But as voters continue to become plugged in to the Internet, its importance in political campaigns will continue to increase.

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The N.C. Center for Voter Education is a nonpartisan not-for-profit organization based in Raleigh, N.C. dedicated to improving the quality and responsiveness of our election system.

The two websites of the Center referenced in the article may be found at www.ncjudges.org and www.ncvotered.com/govote.