Author Archives: Google Politics, Elections, and Public Sector Team

The United Kingdom’s 2015 General Election



Make up your own mind

In just under two weeks, millions of people in the U.K. will head to the polling stations for what could be the most unpredictable General Election in decades. With the two major parties neck-and-neck in the polls, and minor parties getting more attention than ever, the result is far from clear, and voters are increasingly searching online for information they need before they cast their ballot.

While Google doesn’t endorse any party, we want to make information more accessible and organized for voters so they can make up their own mind.

So we’ve built a number of tools to help—from finding a list of your local candidates to catching up on the latest trending election videos.

Ok Google, who’s on my ballot?

For the first time ever in Europe, you can just ask Google to discover information about your local candidates—all you need is your postcode. Ask a question like “who is on the uk ballot” or say “uk election candidates” to find out who is standing for office in your area, and click to get more detailed information on that candidate.


YouTube—a dedicated hub

During the campaign, YouTube’s Spotlight channel has provided 24/7 coverage of the UK election, making it easier to discover breaking election news, political party broadcasts and live-streamed leaders’ debates all in one place.


Channel 4 News’ Jon Snow is anchoring the channel, publishing a new video every weekday at 8am to guide viewers through the key issues, the different parties and how the electoral process works. So be sure to check back regularly!

The channel will also feature your favourite YouTube stars as they get a chance to grill the party leaders.

Keep your finger on the pulse—find out who won

On Election Day, if you use Google Now, you’ll get regular updates about the results as the votes are counted. You can also use Voice Search to ask “who won the uk election” and an easy-to-read display will keep you informed on all the latest constituencies as they report.

So use Google to stay up to date, informed—and to make up your own mind!

Posted by Verity Harding, Public Policy Manager Google UK

Ok Google, how do I vote?

On November 4, Americans will cast ballots for 435 members of congress, 36 senators, 39 governorships, and thousands of other races locally. While every election is important, the voting process can often feel complicated, with the information about how to head to the polls spread across multiple official sources.

Get ready to vote with Google.

That’s why we are launching a number of new tools to equip voters with the information they need to vote on the issues they care about this November.  What is my registration deadline? How do I vote? What forms of identification do I need? All a voter needs to do is ask Google.

For the first time ever, a simple search for [how do i vote] or [register to vote] will give you all the information you need - personalized by state - to vote in person, vote by mail, and make sure you are registered to vote.

Voters can even get reminders on key election information straight from the Google App.

What’s trending this election season?

As election day approaches, YouTube.com/Elections and Google.com/Elections will provide real-time feeds for all the latest news and analysis, live candidate debates, and trending videos on the key races and top issues from across the country.

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By visiting Google.com/+GooglePolitics voters can see all Google Trends infographics -- a pulse on what Americans are searching in the final 26 days of the election.

           
Google Search and the Google Politics & Elections teams are working to make things simpler, by bringing technology to the elections process to encourage transparency, engagement, and informed participation.  With so much at stake on November 4th, including the balance of power in Congress, it is crucial that voters have access to all the information they needed to exercise their power to vote at the polls.

Make sure to check back over the coming weeks, as we’ll continue to release new tools to make sure all Americans can discover and connect with our democratic process.

Be informed. Spread the word. Get ready to use your power.

Posted by Anthea Watson Strong, Elections & Civic Engagement Program Manager

Counting the Votes in Brazil

As the polls closed and votes were being totaled yesterday in Brazil, we introduced two new features to our Google Politics & Elections program in Brazil keep everyone updated on the results - both on Election Day and as we head into an October 26th runoff.
  • Live Results Map: an interactive map allowing users to view results for president, governor, senator and the number of seats for Congress won by each party, both nationwide and by state level.

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  • Presidential results on search: for the first time in Brazil, if you do a simple search for words related to elections and results, we will give you the results for the presidential run.



The information is based on data coming directly from the Electoral Supreme Court (TSE), our partner in this project.

Since we launched our Brazil Elections platform in the beginning of September, thousands of Brazilians have visited the site and used our tools in an effort to stay informed.

Many of them have used the “Know Your Candidates” explorer to dig deeper into information on over 20,000 candidates running for office this year - in all 26 states and the Federal District. They’ve have watched YouTube news pieces from Estadão, navigated Media profiles from more than 30 partners and stayed updated on the latest election news from Google News.

All these resources have made the platform a rich source of information. We hope the new results tools live now will help everyone continue to stay updated and informed as Brazil finds out who their next leaders will be.

Posted by Steven Samorodin, Google Politics & Elections Engineering Team

Launching YouTube for Government

Posted by Brandon Feldman, YouTube News & Politics

From live streams of the State of the Union and legislative hearings, to explainer videos on important issues and Hangouts with constituents, YouTube has become an important platform where citizens engage with their governments and elected officials.

In order to help government officials get a better idea of what YouTube can do, we are launching youtube.com/government101, a one-stop shop where government officials can learn how to get the most out of YouTube as a communication tool.


The site offers a broad range of YouTube advice, from the basics of creating a channel to in-depth guidance on features like live streaming, annotations, playlists and more. We’ve also featured case studies from government offices around the world that are using YouTube in innovative ways.

If you're a government official, whether you are looking for an answer to a quick question or need a full training on YouTube best practices, we hope this resource will help you engage in a rich dialogue with your constituents and increase transparency within your community.

Following Scotland’s Referendum Vote

On Thursday, September 18, 2014, Scotland’s five million residents will be faced with a defining decision for their country: Should Scotland be an independent country?

For the first time in the United Kingdom - and for this vote only - 16 and 17 year olds will be able to sign up to the electoral register and have a voice in this historic moment.

With under two weeks left until polling day, we want to help you stay up to date on all the latest news surrounding the vote.

That’s why we’ve launched the Google Elections site dedicated to the Scottish referendum.

Visit: google.com/landing/scotland where you’ll find news articles, Google+ Hangouts, and YouTube Videos on the upcoming vote as well as profiles of some of the key players.



Follow the politicians on Google+, join in the online Hangouts, and have your say on the dedicated online communities. Because this site is for you to stay informed on all the key issues and to allow you to interact with the people deciding your future.


Posted by Kate Sokolov, Google Politics & Elections Team


2014 Google Personal Democracy Fellows

Posted by Anthea Watson Strong, Google Social Impact team

Google and Personal Democracy Media have teamed up to offer fellowships for women working in civic technology to attend the 11th annual Personal Democracy Forum, June 5-6, 2014 at NYU’s Skirball Center.

This year’s theme is “Save the Internet | The Internet Saves,” and focuses on the ways people can work together to keep the Internet open for free speech, and how the Internet itself helps make society and civic life more open, participatory, and innovative.

For the 2014 Google PDF Fellowship, we have selected 15 women who are working to keep the Internet open and working on ways the Internet makes democracy stronger -- or both!

We’re excited to announce the 2014 Google Personal Democracy Fellows, and we’re expecting great things from the 15 women selected for the Fellowship.

Congratulations to the 2014 Google Personal Democracy Fellows, and thank you to everyone who applied!

Serah Kiburu
Wendy Fong
Tiffany Chu
Joylita Saldanha
Ellie Marshall
Alessandra Orofino
Anna Mazgal
Emma Mulqueeny
Clemence Pene
Jamiah Adams
Paola Villarreal
Katrin Verclas
Sarah Kaufman
Rebekah Monson
Emma Ruiz

Introducing ‘Know Your Candidates tool’ for Lok Sabha Elections 2014

Cross-posted from the Google India Blog

Tool to help voters find information about Lok Sabha candidates and their constituency MP

In the last five months, we have made a concerted effort to provide our users a destination for all their information needs for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. As we get closer to the voting day in many constituencies, we are introducing a new tool as part of our elections portal offering ‘google.co.in/elections’, called ‘Know Your Candidates’. The new tool will allow you to get easy access to relevant information about political candidates contesting from your constituency and the incumbent Member of Parliament.

This tool integrates publicly available information sourced from Indian organizations such as the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), PRS Legislative Research and Liberty Institute India. The tool will provide valuable information for each sitting Lok Sabha MP and contesting candidates such as their disclosed educational background, financial declaration and social media presence (wherever available). The Tool also integrates YouTube candidate bios being produced by Ping Network.

Mapped onto the Google Maps interface, you will be able to find the information about candidates by using pin codes of your area or by zooming into your locality on the map.

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We hope that making this information easily accessible will help Indian voters learn more about candidates running for public office and help them to make an informed decision

Posted by Google Elections Team, Google India



Keeping one billion voters informed in India and Indonesia

Cross-posted from the Google Asia Pacific Blog

Election season is in full swing for two of the world’s largest democracies as a staggering one billion people make their way to the polls in April. To help keep Indian and Indonesian voters informed, we’ve launched tools that provide easier access to the latest news, videos, and practical details about the coming elections.

India
We’re enabling interaction between candidates and their electorates through a series of Hangouts on Air with India’s political leaders. You can view the conversation with BJP leader Arun Jaitley and stay informed about upcoming guests through our Elections Hub.

Indians can also submit an interactive Pledge to Vote on the map to share messages with fellow citizens on why voting is important. If you need any inspiration, watch this moving story of Mr. Shyam Negi, independent India’s first voter, who is 97 years old and has never missed the opportunity to cast his vote.





Indonesia 

In Indonesia, voting-rights NGO Perludem and The Asia Foundation are using our Google Maps tools to create a candidate information map that will be updated as votes come in on election day. Together with Perludem, we’ve also held workshops to enable Indonesian candidates to reach and communicate with voters across the country on platforms such as YouTube and Google+. In this year’s election, 44% of voters are between 18 and 22 years old, and are casting their ballots for the first time. We hope that through better engagement with the candidates, more young voters will be encouraged to go to the polls.

Indonesia’s Elections Hub also keeps citizens informed about how the different political parties are trending in Google Search. 



As election fever sets in, we hope the Elections Hubs at Google.co.in/elections for India and Google.co.id/elections for Indonesia provide you with all the information that you need to stay on top of these significant events.


Posted by Chetan Krishnaswamy, Head of Government Relations at Google India, and Shinto Nugruho, Head of Government Relations, Google Indonesia

Case Study: Enroll America

The developing story about the Affordable Care Act is how Enroll America - and its use of technology - has been central to the upward trend in health insurance enrollees.
Enroll America’s goal is simple: maximize the number of Americans enrolling in affordable health coverage. Read the full case study here.


Likely Voters are Spending More Time than Ever Watching Online Video

The American electorate has reached a tipping point -- with 29% of likely voters not having watched live television in the past week -- according to new research from Google, digital firms Targeted Victory (R) and Well & Lighthouse (D), and polling firms Public Opinion Strategies (R) and Global Strategy Group (D).

To understand how electoral and advocacy campaigns can effectively reach likely voters, Public Opinion Strategies and Global Strategy Group conducted a national telephone survey of N=800 likely voters, January 25-28, 2014.


Read the full study here.