Americans' Technology Adoption and the Future of Elections
[Image courtesy of the Pew Internet and American Life Project]
Near the end of Tuesday’s post about voter cards, I cited some data from the Pew Internet and American Life Project regarding technology adoption across various groups.
That data is just a sample of the wealth of information that Pew Internet has collected on technology use among adults. If you are an election official – or just someone who cares about the future of election administration – you should 1) bookmark pewinternet.org and 2) take a few minutes browsing through these quick snapshots of how Americans are using the technology they have to get the information they need and do what they enjoy:
- Who’s Online
- Device Ownership
- What Internet Users Do Online
- Online Activities (2000-2009)
- What Internet Users Do on an Average Day
- Daily Internet Activities (2000-2009)
- Internet Adoption
- Home Broadband
Just as importantly, if you want to see what the next generation of voters is up to, check out similar stats for teens.
The bottom line is this: technology adoption among Americans is increasing exponentially. Election offices that don’t view online/mobile delivery of voting information as a core component of their outreach efforts are doing a disservice to themselves and their citizens – both as voters and as taxpayers who foot the bill.