Cell-phone respondents and home-phone respondents are fundamentally different in many ways, use of technology high among them. In a survey of Washington state registered voters, half of those interviewed on a home-phone “almost never” send a text message; half of those interviewed on a cell-phone send multiple text messages every day. SurveyUSA poll of 636 registered voters from state of WA, released 04/29/11; 19% of RV are cell-phone respondents.

Polls that exclude cell-phone respondents, such as those conducted by many SurveyUSA competitors, risk mis-characterizing public opinion. SurveyUSA estimates that by Election 2012, half of voters age 25 to 34, and one-third of voters age 35 to 44, will not be reachable on a home-phone. Make certain the polls you commission, and the competing polls you analyze, properly account for cell-phone respondents.