Mobile marketing company Mediaburst has revealed that its text services are being integrated into a bespoke online electoral roll system for local authorities. For the first time, voters will be able to register to vote by simply texting a unique ID and PIN to their local authority.
The Mediaburst text engine forms part of a system called Democratic Solutions, which will be available from local authority provider Dsi from August 2008. Its deployment will enable voters to securely register their voting intentions with a local authority during their annual canvass by telephone, the web and SMS.
Dsi is a trusted provider of fully auditable closed loop solutions to over 150 local authorities in Britain. Its product portfolio, used by the authorities, includes electoral registration and management software, revenue and benefits billing systems, case load management tools for councillors, and consultation software, as well as printed postal voting packs, poll cards, annual canvass forms and ballot books.
Mediaburst says that Dsis extended software will be win-win for voters and local authorities alike. On the one hand, the public will have more choice in the way they wish to register with a local authority during their annual canvass, either by calling a telephone hotline, by visiting www.securemyvote.co.uk and completing an online form, or by texting a unique ID and PIN received in the post to the authoritys long or shortcode number. On the other hand, says Mediaburst, local authorities will be able to leverage the public and their mobile phones and the Internet, to compile electoral rolls faster and at less cost.
Compiling electoral rolls today is traditionally a costly, paper-based exercise for local authorities and an online solution offers voters a more convenient method to ensure that they get involved in local elections and democratic issues, says Dsi Business Development Director, Simon Verdon. By integrating Mediabursts highly-secure SMS services into our new online registration system, Dsi again demonstrates how it is helping local authorities to better engage and interact with the voting public and for the public to protect their democratic rights.