Google search will now feature localized ballot information for voters in the United States. They are also opening this data up to other organizations for free.
According to the official blog of Google, they have been putting election-related information to its users for a while now. This made it easier for them to register to vote, had state-specific details on how to vote properly in the search results. It has also highlighted fact-checking stories related to the election in Google News.
With the new feature of giving information about localized polling places and ballot details, it will be easier for the voters. Users only need to search for who is on my ballot and it will bring up results, which will be customized to their location. They can also tap or click on names to find out more information about the candidates they will be voting for.
Voters will get the results that are broken up into national and state races. Each of these candidates and its parties will be clearly labeled where applicable.
At the bottom of the list will be buttons that they can tap to display the voter registration details and voting instructions. It will display the details on exactly where the polling places will be. They will also see the requirements for the voter ID when they look at the details of their polling location.
Google will ask users of their home address instead of using their phones or their computer's location. For the users who have their home location information filled up already in their Google account, it will be easier for them to fill up the details with just one tap.
For the final step, the voters will only need to show up in the voting area. Google wants to make sure that they find the info they need from state to state. They will also continue to add data from each state over the next couple of weeks.
The internet company would like to open their data up to other organizations for free. They want to share this to technology companies like Uber, Twitter, and Hotels.com to nonprofits like Pew Charitable Trusts' The Voting Information Project. These organizations can use their products and the Google Civic Information API to make tools that get the information to as many voters as possible.
According to the official website of the Google Civic Information API, this lets developers build applications that will display civic information to their users like for voting. They can use this to look up polling places, early vote location, candidate data, and other official information.
Check out the Google for election video below: