KENOSHA, Wis.— With just a week and a half until the Presidential election, the number of political text messages being sent to people across the United States is on the rise. 

According to research conducted by Robokiller, a software that blocks robocalls, Americans have received more than 2.1 billion political text messages in the last 30 days. It comes at a time when campaigns are changing the way they target people with their messaging. 

While campaigns used to rely most heavily on TV advertising and direct phone calls, reaching younger voters on these platforms is becoming more challenging. Less than half of households still have a landline phone, and TV viewership has declined over the past decade. However, according to Pew Research, around 96% of Americans have a cell phone. 

Dr. Arthur Cyr, who studies political science and world business at Carthage College, says the growth of political texts is not surprising. 

“The pressure to find new means to communicate with people, voters especially, not just voters has grown tremendously. It is reflected, the pinnacle of the spear is text messages today," says Dr. Cyr.

Political text messages allow campaigns and political action committees to have a more targeted approach than traditional advertising. Oftentimes campaign volunteers will reach out directly to voters, not just to encourage them to cast a ballot but also to volunteer or donate. 

“Since we now have literally or eternal data and seemingly endless marketing firms most of them outside the political realm you can slice and dice data in sophisticated ways which is why we get ads in email and text messages," says Dr. Cyr.

While many may find them annoying, as more people use texting and social media as primary forms of communication, it appears they will not be going away anytime soon.