Thread: Hispanic voters to get text messages

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pag...u_sid=10249627

Published Monday | February 4, 2008
Hispanic voters to get text messages

NEW YORK (AP) — A group concerned with Hispanic health issues plans to send more than a million text messages to cell phones to remind and encourage people to vote in the presidential preference contests.

The National Alliance for Hispanic Health plans a first wave of 25,000 text messages to remind voters to go to the polls in more than 20 states with primaries or caucuses on Tuesday.

The group, which assists 100 million people a year, will expand the model to all states for November's general election.

"The idea is to use all the tools of the 21st century to get out the vote," said Adolph Falcon, the alliance's vice president for science and policy. "Studies have shown these messages increase turnout 4 to 5 percent."

A University of Michigan-Princeton University study from 2004 showed that text message reminders helped encourage people to go to the polls. That study also showed that Hispanics were the most responsive to the reminders.

Hispanics, the nation's largest minority group, make up about 16 percent of the population and have become more politically organized.

The Vote for Your Health/Vota Por Tu Salud campaign will attempt to increase turnout among the key demographic, a group that could help decide the outcome in states such as New York and California.

New York has the nation's fourth-largest Hispanic population, with 1.5 million eligible voters — 8 percent of the country's total Hispanic vote, the Pew Hispanic Center says.

California counts 13 million Hispanics, about one-third of those in the United States. Five million are eligible to vote; one-fourth of Hispanic voters in the country live in California.

Questions

1. How are they getting cell phone numbers for political use without massive corporate insider assistance?

2. How are they able to target cell phones owned by Hispanics without massive corporate insider assistance?

3. Have Hispanics grown from 13.5% to 16% of the US population just since the 2000 census?

W

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

Questions

1. How are they getting cell phone numbers for political use without massive corporate insider assistance?

2. How are they able to target cell phones owned by Hispanics without massive corporate insider assistance?

3. Have Hispanics grown from 13.5% to 16% of the US population just since the 2000 census?

W

W,

It is racial profiling. My last name is Spanish (from Spain, not Mexico) and I get Spanish telemarketers all the time. I also get junk mail in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish, I AM NOT EVEN SPANISH -- it is my ex-husand's name who is from Spain.

I am so sick of it, that I have started playing a new "game" with these telemarketers. Their first question is "Do you speak Spanish?" I now answer back, "Do YOU SPEAK ENGLISH? BECAUSE THIS IS AMERICA AND WE SPEAK ENGLISH HERE." I usually get a hang-up after that. LOL.

The deeper problem is if these are all American citizens
why do they need to be targeted ?

I am really getting frustraited with them feeling they
are in their own little world in this country

....lucky for me, my married last name is of Welsh origin so I won't be getting those annoying "Hispanic-targeted" texts nor phone calls...

OOO OOO TEXT ME! TEXT ME! PLEASE!

I am soooo ready to raise hell if I get a text!

Originally Posted by Ex_OC

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

Questions

1. How are they getting cell phone numbers for political use without massive corporate insider assistance?

2. How are they able to target cell phones owned by Hispanics without massive corporate insider assistance?

3. Have Hispanics grown from 13.5% to 16% of the US population just since the 2000 census?

W

W,



It is racial profiling. My last name is Spanish (from Spain, not Mexico) and I get Spanish telemarketers all the time. I also get junk mail in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish, I AM NOT EVEN SPANISH -- it is my ex-husand's name who is from Spain.

I am so sick of it, that I have started playing a new "game" with these telemarketers. Their first question is "Do you speak Spanish?" I now answer back, "Do YOU SPEAK ENGLISH? BECAUSE THIS IS AMERICA AND WE SPEAK ENGLISH HERE." I usually get a hang-up after that. LOL.

[/b]It's also area code #'s. Here in LA (323) and (213) area codes are almost all hispanic populated.

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

Questions

1. How are they getting cell phone numbers for political use without massive corporate insider assistance?

2. How are they able to target cell phones owned by Hispanics without massive corporate insider assistance?

3. Have Hispanics grown from 13.5% to 16% of the US population just since the 2000 census?

W

I run across things like this all the time. I had ATT in 2002 as a landline and one of their employees starting asking me questions like "Where do you work." When I asked why they needed to know, they said that they would enter that I REFUSED to answer the question in my file! It was just like East Germany. They must have all sorts of personal information on file in the large telecoms. Needless to say I dropped ATT like a bad habit.
(Hey ATT! How do you like all the money you lost alienating your own customers?)

Originally Posted by Ex_OC

I am so sick of it, that I have started playing a new "game" with these telemarketers. Their first question is "Do you speak Spanish?" I now answer back, "Do YOU SPEAK ENGLISH? BECAUSE THIS IS AMERICA AND WE SPEAK ENGLISH HERE." I usually get a hang-up after that. LOL.

That sounds like fun, I am tempted to change my last name to a Hispanic one so I can do it also!

William wrote:

Questions

1. How are they getting cell phone numbers for political use without massive corporate insider assistance?

2. How are they able to target cell phones owned by Hispanics without massive corporate insider assistance?

William I had a conversation the other day with a young gentlemen that is now working with a start up company in the communications field. I don't know how accurate this is but he was telling me about the richest man in Mexico paying for cell phones and phone calls from Hispanics to Mexico. He was bragging about it because this same man was considering allowing their company to expand into Mexico.