CCL generated a list of valid mobile phone numbers from the Virginia voter list. Virginia, with the help of CCL, crafted a single outbound message that was sent directly to 2 million registered voters over a two-day period, April 3–4, 2020. The text asked recipients if they have taken the Census, and included a link to the online Census form.
A key challenge in sending SMS text messages is respecting privacy and ensuring user consent. We were able to reduce opt-out rates dramatically by offering a “soft” opt-out option where someone could indicate that they had already completed the Census, rather than just opting out of all messages. The increase in self-response was primarily in hard-to-count communities.