Google Search feature helps voters register

Googles+step-by-step+guide+explains+how+to+vote+in+California.+The+new+features+are+designed+to+help+users+register+to+vote.

Ashley Jiang

Google’s step-by-step guide explains how to vote in California. The new features are designed to help users register to vote.

by Ashley Jiang, Photo Editor

Google recently added two new features to its search engine to help people register to vote and keep up-to-date with political news. The company informed the public of this change on its official blog on July 15.

One of the new tools is a step-by-step guide for the voter registration procedure. Because of the varied requirements and voting deadlines, this information is organized by state.

When someone searches “register to vote” or a similar inquiry using Google’s search engine, this feature will pop up above the search results, with three tabs: “How To,” “Requirements” and “Deadlines.” One can then view the prerequisites and deadlines for a state.

“Every election matters and every vote counts. The American democracy relies on everyone’s participation in the political process,” Google’s product manager Jacob Schonberg wrote on the blog post. “We hope these new features in Search will help keep you informed this election season and make it easier for you to make it to the ballot box in November.”

Google also provided event summaries, information about nominees and speaker lineups for the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, as well as a live stream video on YouTube and associated social media posts.

These two new tools will help people during this election season up until November, when people across the nation will be casting their votes for the next president.

This piece was originally published in the pages of the Winged Post on Aug 26, 2016.