Voter data firm in Scarborough consumer research pact

The aim is to provide political campaigns with information on party affiliation and voting frequency mixed with media usage and lifestyle data to help candidates target key audiences.

For instance, in Florida where there is much debate on in-state casinos, Scarborough and TargetSmart say a candidate would be able to look to see what percentage of registered voters had visited a casino in the past year, how many of those are Republican voters or Democrats and how frequently they have voted in the past.

On top of that, the partners say, campaigns would be able to see what percentage of casino-going Florida voters listen to the radio versus reading magazines or watching sports on TV.