The MoPR Blog

In a world dominated by text message voting, is it any surprise that Americans are considering it for the presidential nomination? Samsung posed the following question recently:

Are you willing to vote for the next president by way of SMS text message?

An astonishing 61 percent of Americans 18 and older said yes.

And as the age decreases, the number increases to a whopping 80 percent. But not to worry, these kids can’t vote…yet. Isn’t it interesting to think that in the coming years, when this percentage of text messagers is old enough to vote, they may actually have this option!

The idea of text message voting is alluring to Americans, especially those who don’t want to drive to the polls or spend $0.42 (and rising!) on a stamp. In a country that prides itself on laziness (come on now…we did invent the TV tray), it’s absolutely no surprise that we are opting for a text message vote.

I must admit, I think it’s a pretty fantastic idea. But that’s exactly what it is right now. A fantastic idea, derived from the fantasy that someday we will all be able to text our presidential vote while watching the latest episode of The Office.

ABC News aired a story recently on Americans cramming 31 hours into a 24 hour day. The simple conclusion: Americans want to multi-task and are growing increasingly impatient. We want it all. Now.

Yes, the faults are countless. How would you verify the voter is who they claim to be? How can you tell the age of the voter? How can we ensure the voter is registered and even a US citizen? Isn’t there the chance that a system could crash, that votes could be spoofed, or the system hacked? These are all problems. In fact, I’m sure one could argue there are far more cons than pros for this imaginative idea. However, it’s still fun to think about. And can you envision the voter turnout?

So, I guess the question is: Would you vote for president via a text message?

And no, you can’t text us the answer - yet.