What you need to know
- Google Search, Maps, and Assistant are getting new election features.
- The new features make it easier for you to find voting locations around you.
- Google aims to list more than 200,000 voting locations across the U.S.
Google today announced that it is adding new election-related features to Search, Maps, and its voice assistant. The new features are aimed at making it easier for voters in the U.S. to find their nearest voting locations.
Yunhan Xu, Product Manager at Google, wrote in a blog post:
This year, searches for "how to vote" in the U.S. are higher than ever before. To make it easier to find information about how and where to vote—regardless of your preferred voting method—we've launched election-related features with information from trusted and authoritative organizations in Google Search.
You will be able to find your nearest in-person voting location or returning mail-in ballots using search terms such as "early voting locations" and "ballot drop boxes near me." You will also "soon" be able to get the same information from the Google Assistant on your smartphone, smart speaker, or smart display by asking, "Hey Google, where do I vote?."
Once you find your nearest voting location, you can get directions to the in-person voting or ballot drop box location from Google Maps. In addition to directions, Google Maps will also show you information on voting hours.
Google has joined hands with the Voting Information Project to source all the voting location information. It plans to list more than 200,000 voting locations across the U.S. In cases where the information cannot be provided directly, it will direct users to state and local election websites.
