Swiss Parliament Elections 2015: Winner: SMS

Swiss parties, political associations and interest groups have realized that sending a text message to their communities brings more voters for their party or for their referendum.

Foto: The original uploader was John Doe at German Wikipedia/Lizenz: CC BY-SA-3.0

The Swiss Parliament elections in 2015 show this more clearly than ever before: probably never before, so many SMS with political content have been sent than at this year's National Council and Senate elections.

Important topics and contents are sent in time to the mobile phones of the recipients. Reception is confirmed by the recipient's handset. The ones who have done their homework have requested for permission (opt-in) to send central and crucial information via SMS communication channel in advance.

Clearly the reminder - respectively requesting the electorate (party, association, IG) to vote makes a lot of sense. It can be a game changer and bring needed votes for the party or for the referendum.

Since you do not know whether and how your colleagues can be reached, or which communication channel they actually use, the classic SMS is the adequate way to reach a maximum number of recipients.

To receive a text, it is sufficient to be connected with the mobile phone to the GSM network. There is no WiFi and no packet data connection required. 98% of text messages are read immediately.

Example

The party «Go Switzerland» collected mobile phone numbers since mid-2010. At each event people are asked if the party should send infos and through what specific channel:

On Tuesday, 13.10.2015 before the parliamentary elections of 2015, the party «Go Switzerland» sent on behalf of their party president Sepp Yilmaz the following SMS:

Between October 27 and November 17 the party «Go Switzerland» again sends SMS as a reminder to go to the polls at fot the second round of voting in the Cantons A, B and C:

Both SMS are highly efficient: they are personal and call to be active right there, where it matters.

Often the second round of Senate elections goes into oblivion, because people have already voted - now I have to vote again?

The rigorous work of recent years pays off: An SMS costs only 0.06 to 0.16 CHF. This is, for example, cheaper than a postage stamp at a mail delivery and reception of SMS is even confirmed by the recipient's handset.

* This Case Study is fictional.