A recent Pew poll of registered voters demonstrates that the Internet is the preferred resource for election information.
Specifically:
- 58 percent would look online first for polling place or election information. In comparison, only 15 percent would call their local election office, and 9 percent would look in a newspaper.
- 52 percent of those who look for information online would turn first to online search tools such as Google or Bing.
- 29 percent of those looking online would go first to their local election official’s website, and 9 percent would go to their state election official’s website.
- 65 percent of those who voted in 2012 or 2010 used the Internet to look up candidates or issues, 39 percent to find their polling place, 39 percent for voting hours, and 28 percent to verify their registration status.
In 2012, Pew documented the online lookup tools that were available on state election websites during the 2012 general election:
- 48 states had a polling place lookup tool.
- 40 states had a registration status verification tool.
- 25 states let voters access precinct-level sample ballots.
- 19 states allowed users to view the status of their provisional ballots.
Public Opinion Strategies and the Mellman Group, on behalf of Pew, conducted phone interviews with 1,001 registered voters, Sept. 18 to 26, 2013. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.
Top line results from the surveys are available by request. Please contact Sean Greene at sgreene@pewtrusts.org.
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