Google is by far the best search engine. Last week, the company announced that it would help voters in the USA to learn how to register as voters. The tech company plans to achieve this by incorporating a search feature, which is state specific, that will assist in voter registration.
According to Google, when a user types register as a voter in the search box, the search engine will display information regarding voting requirements and guidelines on how to register online, in person and by mail. This search feature was announced last week, Friday, but only became available to US voters yesterday.
The company pointed out that the main aim of the new feature is to make sure everyone participates in the political process. It is true that information about the voting process is available on the internet. Google is only making the information easier to find and organizing the information for easy understanding. Furthermore, all states have different voter registration processes and guidelines. The new feature by Google is specific to the geographical location of the user.
The voter registration feature will pop up an information box above search results, but below ‘Google Ads’. The information box will have three different tabs; ‘How To’ tab, ‘Requirements’ tab and ‘Deadlines’ tab. The information in the tab will be specific to the location of the user.
The ‘How To’ tab will explain how to register as a voter. In the USA there are three ways of registering as a voter- online, in person or by mail. Summaries of how to use these three methods appear under the ‘How to’ tab.
The ‘Requirements’ tab will highlight all the requirements needed to register as a voter in your state. The last tab, ‘Deadlines’ has information regarding the deadline dates for voter registrations and other dates in the voter registration program. Google has also provided links to relevant sites, such as voter registration sites, in the tabs.
We have seen Google involve itself in voting processes before. There was an Online Voter Guide released b the company a few years back that allowed users to vote through TurboVote, a third party voting service. The company has offered voters with registration information in the past years.
But this time, there is a big difference. Google has stepped up to provide voters with well-organized information that is easy to navigate. The information provided is detailed and very helpful. The voter registration tool is also available on mobile devices.
The voter registration tool is not all the company has to offer. Google introduced real-time response from presumed candidates, thus helping voters learn more about politician’s seeking positions in the upcoming elections. The company also promises to get involved in the coverage of the Republican and Democrat National Convention. It will offer speaker lineups and event summaries in the search results and the Google app. Live streams of the convention will also be available on the company’s online video service, YouTube.
