More than half of users polled would vote via mobile devices
A full 60 percent of smartphone and tablet owners polled said they would use their devices to vote in the upcoming presidential election.
Would you use your mobile device to vote in an election? A majority of people recently polled said they would, at least under the right conditions.
Among smartphone and tablet owners asked, 60 percent said they'd cast their vote for the next president through a mobile app or text message -- if they could do so without any fear of fraud.
Conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Internet radio provider Stitcher, the poll also found that 49 percent of mobile device owners ages 18 to 34 are using more apps to stay up to date on election information than they did in 2008.
Forty-one percent of mobile device owners overall are getting more details about the 2012 election through apps, blogs, Web pages, and social media than they did in 2008. Thirty-five percent of U.S. citizens 55 and older are getting information this way. And 40 percent of college graduates are using their mobile devices to get election news.
The poll also found a difference between Democrats and Republicans. Among Democrats, 38 percent of smartphone or tablet owners get most of their political news via their mobile devices as opposed to TV or their computers. But only 25 percent of Republicans gave the same response.
"While we expected people would be using mobile devices more this election cycle, the fact that mobile is already eclipsing more traditional outlets as a primary way to follow the candidates and election news is surprising," Stitcher CEO Noah Shanok said in a statement.
Like many organizations sponsoring polls, Stitcher has a vested interest in the results.
The company offers a mobile app that lets people listen to their favorite podcasts and online news shows. Conducted last month, the survey reached 2,129 U.S. adults, 1,024 of whom were smartphone or tablet owners.