The Tech Battle for the White House

Behind all the mud-slinging about war records, national security, and the economy, Democrats and Republicans are both harnessing technology in an effort to win the White House on November 2nd.

When it comes to presidential elections, the simple fact is that knowledge equals power. The more that parties know about individual members of the electorate, the better the chance of winning them over.

So as the election draws nearer, with its familiar sights -- party workers wearing out their shoe leather and candidates kissing screaming babies -- the chances are that a computer system back at HQ has given out info on how to win votes in that particular neighborhood.

But both parties are keeping a tight lid on these systems. A spokesman for the Democratic National Committee this morning would only confirm that it has over 160 million” people on its database, although NDCF has managed to find out some more details about the technology supporting 2004’s election campaigns.

Prompted by their narrow defeat in 2000 and the McCain-Feingold legislation on campaign finance reform, the Democrats have put their faith in a system called Demzilla, which was launched in March last year. The Republicans, however, have developed the somewhat shadowy Voter Vault system in an attempt to keep Dubya in the Oval Orifice.