Rhode Island Secretary of State James Langevin s site allows people to download a voter registration form to be mailed in later. And many congressional candidates personal sites offer a similar form from the Federal Elections Commission. DNet plans similar coverage of elections in nine other states later this year. Rock the Vote raised its profile in 1994 when it partnered with MTV, but now operates independently of the cable music television channel. The advent of e-mail as a medium of mass communication has opened new doors for voters, political operatives and campaigns not to mention direct marketers.
Many nonprofit groups offer e-mail newsletters.
Not only was Brown successful in utilizing e-mail on the campaign trail, but his Oaklanders First site was innovative in its own right. The home page allowed visitors to take part in a survey of issues affecting the community and contribute money to the campaign through an online credit card transaction. Brown, who ran for president a few times, was a pioneer in the use of a toll-free telephone number for soliciting campaign contributions during an early bid for the White House. Most major-party candidates and other contenders sport Web sites of the john smith4gov.org variety these days. Most sites encourage voters to volunteer with the campaign and offer press releases and poll results for the media.