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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.