• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, December 20, 2006

E-mail played a less important role in the mid-term elections than in last year's presidential race, with just 12% of American adults receiving political messages in their inbox this year, compared with 15% in 2004. That's according to a new report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

The organization, which surveyed 2,562 adults last month, also reported that registered Republicans were the most likely recipients of e-mail ads, with 16% reporting such messages, followed by Democrats (12%) and Independents (11%).

Wealthier respondents also were more likely to get e-mail, with 20% of those earning more than $75,000 a year receiving ads in their inboxes, compared to 6% of those earning less than $30,000.

While e-mail use appeared to dwindle this year, direct U.S. postal mailings increased. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they received snail mail from candidates, up from 49% two years ago.

The report doesn't speculate on why use of e-mail dropped, but one explanation is that politicians were more afraid of being labeled "spammers" than in the past. Of course, it's also possible that consumers weren't receiving as many e-mail messages now due to overly aggressive spam filters that weeded out the political solicitations.