Online Voting Rockets in the United States

NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Online Voting Rockets in the United States

Nielsen//NetRatings Records Huge Jump in Click to Online Voting Site as Presidential Campaign Gets Into Full Swing

Auckland – 21 August 2000 – As much as kissing babies and popping balloons at conventions, claims of voter apathy have become a constant of American presidential races – although this year that looks likely to change, as three months out from the paper ballot net citizens are already flocking to Internet sites to assess candidates and log their preferences.
In Internet ratings for the week ending August 6, Nielsen//NetRatings tracked a huge jump in American visitors to vote.com, a site dedicated to campaign news and tracking polls on issues ranging from the death penalty for the mentally retarded to assessments of President Bill Clinton’s latest speech.
As Americans logged on to follow the latest news from Democratic and Republican candidates, Al Gore and George W. Bush unique audience numbers surged for Vote.com during the week of the Republican National Convention, Nielsen//NetRatings service showed – pushing the site to close out the week as the third fastest growing domain.
New Zealand is planning its first on-line election in October, with the Central Hawkes Bay Power Trust reportedly talking with technology companies about offering itself for a dummy trial run electronic ballot alongside the conventional postal vote.
One of the firms involved with that plan has already worked on what was probably the world’s first legally binding public election over the Internet — helping host the Arizona Democratic Party presidential party in March.
But even for a chance to vote informally, American Netizens showed up for the polls at Vote.com, recording an overall unique audience number of more than 270,000 for the week ending August 6, an increase of 87 percent from the previous week.
“With three months to go during the 2000 presidential campaign, Republican, Democratic and Reform party voters are logging on to political sites to get the latest news from party headquarters,” said Brian Milnes, ACNielsen eRatings.com Managing Director Pacific.
“Presidential candidates and political organizations alike have integrated the Internet within their campaign strategy as the latest medium to reach out to voters across the nation and provide them with a gold mine of political information — all with a click of a mouse”
About ACNielsen eRatings.com
ACNielsen eRatings.com is a venture between ACNielsen (NYSE: ART) and NetRatings Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRT). ACNielsen is the world's leading market research firm, offering measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics, consumer attitudes and behaviour, and new and traditional media in more than 100 countries, and NetRatings is the leading provider of Internet audience measurement technology and analysis. Through the Nielsen//NetRatings service, ACNielsen eRatings.com is creating the first global service for tracking audiences, advertising and user activity on the Internet in more than 30 countries worldwide.
###

© Scoop Media