SAN DIEGO, Oct. 21, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- In a poll yesterday that queried SMS.ac (www.sms.ac) mobile phone users from within the United States, 55.4% of those surveyed say they would cast their vote for President George Bush, while Kerry would receive 44.6%, if the election were held today. Wednesday's poll garnered 52,427 responses in less than 24 hours and was conducted by SMS.ac, Inc., host to the largest community of mobile phone users in the world.
Yesterday's survey carries a margin of error that is plus or minus 1% and it is believed to be the largest mobile Presidential poll to date. The responses were received via mobile handsets and through the company's consumer site (www.sms.ac) -- both using SMS.ac's mobile consumer authentication system.
Poll participants were not given the option of casting their votes as "undecided." The question was simply worded:
If you had to cast your vote today, who would receive your vote?
-- President George Bush -- Senator John Kerry
Recent news stories have focused on the shortcomings of polling methodology related to the 2004 Presidential race, due largely to the fact that many voters in the United States now utilize their mobile phones exclusively over traditional fixed-line phones, and therefore they are not accessible to voting pollsters.
"A significant segment of the American audience is not being represented in current Presidential polling," said SMS.ac's chairman and chief executive, Michael Pousti. "Since SMS.ac's audience is comprised solely of mobile phone users, we are uniquely positioned to give this population the representation it is lacking. And beyond the sheer volume of responses, what makes the SMS.ac poll so compelling, is that each response, even those garnered from the Web, are verifiable as being unique and non-duplicated."
Pousti pointed to SMS.ac's proprietary technology platform, called MMSbox(tm), which enables the interoperable exchange of mobile multimedia communications and mobile micro-transaction billing across any network. "The technology also isolates each mobile device user as a unique entity," continued Pousti. "So, whether votes were cast from their handset or from our consumer site, all members are authenticated through their mobile phones, so no person is able to cast multiple votes."
Are you an industry analyst or member of the press that wants to use the SMS.ac poll tool for research purposes? Survey a global mobile audience on virtually any topic and within 24 hours, SMS.ac can sort results by location, age and gender. For more information, use the subject heading "Mobile Poll Tool" and send an email to prcomm@corp.sms.ac.
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About SMS.ac
SMS.ac, Inc. is a mobile data communications company whose proprietary MMSbox(tm) platform enables the interoperable exchange of mobile multimedia (MMS and SMS) and micro-transaction billing across all mobile standards, protocols and the Internet. A demonstration of the MMSbox platform is available at www.sms.ac.
With tens of millions of self-registered mobile consumers in 170 countries, and connectivity to more than 400 mobile operators worldwide, SMS.ac is host to the largest community of mobile phone users in the world. Through its global initiatives, SMS.ac is igniting the widespread adoption and use of wireless data. To view the SMS.ac corporate web site, visit www.sms.ac/corporate.