http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11612-2004Mar20.htmlA growing number of large U.S. corporations are offering services to register their employees to vote and mounting get-to-the-polls drives that advocates hope will swell the ranks of pro-business voters this election year.
Companies portray the voter push as a nonpartisan employee benefit. But Republicans see it as a boon to their hopes of maintaining control of the House and Senate and reelecting President Bush. And Democrats, who have long benefited from union-led get-out-the-vote campaigns, are worried that business finally has developed a vigorous counterpunch.
During the elections of 2000 and 2002, District-based industry groups launched pilot programs to determine whether such techniques would encourage pro-business voting or turn off workers. Polling afterward demonstrated that most employees welcomed their companies' involvement as long as it was done with a light touch. Firms also saw evidence that pro-business voting increased.
As a result, the number of companies that provide voter registration and other election-oriented services is expanding, with a special emphasis on voting via absentee ballot.
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The campaign uses customized Web sites to make it easy for workers to download voter-registration forms and apply for absentee ballots. It also directs company employees to sites that show how candidates for federal office have voted compared with the companies' position.
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