Cross-posted from the Official Google India Blog

Last week, Google launched an elections portal www.google.co.in/elections that will assist voters in India to understand the electoral process, get access to all the news related to elections and politics, get detailed information on specific political parties. The Elections Portal will serve as a one stop destination to help voters get answers to their elections and voting-related queries to make an informed decision.

In the first phase of the launch, the portal will cover news information and videos related to state elections for Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Mizoram covering news from leading publications and broadcasters both in English and Hindi. Users will also be able to watch content hosted by YouTube partners for elections and links to Hangouts done by political representatives in the recent past.

In addition to this, the portal will also offer information on how to register for voting along with a section on frequently asked questions around voting and registration. Our intent is to empower voters with all the information they need at a single destination for upcoming general elections. Over time we will add more functionality to enable users to interact and engage with the candidates, so that they are not simply watching from afar, but participating in, engaging with and shaping the political process in a democratic way.

With over 200 million Internet users in the country, the Internet audience in India has reached a critical scale and will play an important role in influencing the decisions of a large proportion of the urban Indian population in the upcoming elections. Elections related search queries on Google have shown a considerable increase and the interest in news information related to elections and politics have started to peak. Leading political parties are active on most social media platforms, and users will be able to access all the information sent out by the political parties on platforms like YouTube, Google+ and connect directly with the candidates in their constituency.

Posted By: Chetan Krishnaswamy, Head of Public Policy and Government Relations, Google India

Many applications track and map governmental data, but few help their users identify the relevant local public officials. Too often local problems are divorced from the government institutions designed to help. Today, we're launching new functionality in the Google Civic Information API that lets developers connect constituents to their federal, state, county and municipal elected officials—right down to the city council district.

The Civic Information API has already helped developers create apps for US elections that incorporate polling place and ballot information, from helping those affected by Superstorm Sandy find updated polling locations over SMS to learning more about local races through social networks. We want to support these developers in their work beyond elections, including everyday civic engagement.

In addition to elected representatives, the API also returns your political jurisdictions using Open Civic Data Identifiers. We worked with the Sunlight Foundation and other civic technology groups to create this new open standard to make it easier for developers to combine the Civic Information API with their datasets. For example, once you look up districts and representatives in the Civic Information API, you can match the districts up to historical election results published by Open Elections.

Developers can head over to the documentation to get started; be sure to check out the "Map Your Reps" sample application from Bow & Arrow to get a sense of what the API can do. You can also see the API in action today through new features from some of our partners, for example:

• Change.org has implemented a new Decision Makers feature which allows users to direct a petition to their elected representative and lists that petition publicly on the representative's profile page. As a result, the leader has better insight into the issues being discussed in their district, and a new channel to respond to constituents.
  
  
• PopVox helps users share their opinions on bills with their Congressional Representatives in a meaningful format. PopVox uses the API to connect the user to the correct Congressional District. Because PopVox verifies that users are real constituents, the opinions shared with elected officials have more impact on the political process.
  
  

Over time, we will expand beyond US elected representatives and elections to other data types and places. We can’t grow without your help. As you use the API, please visit our Developer Forum to share your experiences and tell us how we can help you build the next generation of civic apps and services.

This release is an investment in making the world’s civic data universally accessible and useful. We’ll continue to work with civic developers who are tackling real-world challenges. Together, we can build new tools to improve civic life for everyone.

Posted by Jonathan Tomer, Software Engineer

Posted by Jason Brooks, Google Politics & Elections Team
The “Your District” map allows voters to find out who is running in their districts and learn more about candidates through social media. 

Take a look at our just-launched map, join the conversation on G+, and make sure to check back on Sunday, when the map will display real-time official results for each of the 299 districts.

Posted by Sally Simms, Google+ Partnerships

This month, the Supreme Court will likely rule on the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California’s Proposition 8, marking a historic moment for the issue of marriage equality in the United States.

In anticipation of these monumental decisions, +MSNBC will host a series of Google+ Hangouts On Air surrounding marriage equality and the Supreme Court cases beginning this Monday, June 17. The series of four Hangouts On Air, hosted by MSNBC anchors Thomas Roberts, Chris Hayes, Steve Kornacki and Andrea Mitchell, will bring together experts, celebrities, and members of the Google+ community who will be affected by the court’s decisions in a conversation about the implications of these historic rulings.

+MSNBC Hangouts On Air on the DOMA and Prop. 8 decisions:

Monday, June 17, 12:15PM ET: What Does This All Mean?
Tuesday, June 18, 12:15PM ET: Changing Your Community
Wednesday, June 19, 12:15 PM ET: Both Sides of the Aisle
Monday, June 24, 2:15 PM ET: From Hollywood to Your Hometown



We look forward to having you join the discussions with MSNBC, and taking part in the community conversation by using #MarriageEquality on Google+.

Posted by Ramya Raghavan, Google+ Politics and Causes

Over the past year, Google+ has been used across the globe to connect people and enable free expression—from Syria Deeply, an independent news site which regularly uses Google+ and Hangouts to report about the crisis in Syria to Tom Fletcher, the British Ambassador to Lebanon, who issues dispatches from one country to another via Hangout.

Today, the U.S. Department of State is building on this trend by announcing a new series of discussions called “Hangouts at State.” Each month, these conversations will bring people together across global boundaries to discuss the most pressing U.S. foreign policy issues, like democracy promotion, human rights, counterterrorism efforts, economic development, climate change and drug interdiction.

The series kicks off on Friday, April 19 with a Hangout with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, entitled “The U.S. in the World: What’s In It for Us” and moderated by NBC’s Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell. The Secretary will be joined by a group of Americans to discuss the impact of U.S. foreign policy on people at home.

Tune in on Friday at 1 p.m. E.T. to watch the conversation unfold, and keep your eye on the Google Politics and Elections page for news about the next “Hangout at State.”

Posted by Ramya Raghavan, Google+ Politics Team

In exactly one week, the Supreme Court will begin hearing oral arguments on the issue of same-sex marriage. It’s been a hot topic and there will no doubt be a flurry of activity related to the cases. Recently on Google+, we’ve seen a variety of posts about this issue and the community is just getting warmed up.

Starting tomorrow at 2 p.m. EDT, you can view a series of Google+ Hangouts exploring the issues related to the same-sex marriage debate. The “State of our Unions” Hangout series will include Washington Post journalists and writers such as Chris Cillizza, Nia Malika-Henderson, Jonathan Capehart, Liz Tenety and Robert Barnes as well as participating organizations The Advocate, The Center for American Progress, The Family Equality Council, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, The Heritage Foundation, SCOTUSblog, and Third Way (#stateofourunion).

State of our Unions hosted by The Washington Post

• March 20 - Tell it to me straight: The facts behind the cases
• March 21 - Evolving Conversations: Is this the new civil rights movement?
• March 22 - Keeping Faith: The role religion plays in the gay marriage debate
• March 26 - Getting Real: What are the real-life impacts of these decisions?
• March 27 - Arguments made -- now what?

The Pride Plus Google+ Community will also cover the topic with “At Last? A Marriage Equality Hangout Series”, taking your questions and debating them among their panel of activists and LGBT nonprofits (#Time4Marriage).

At Last? A Marriage Equality Hangout Series hosted by Pride Plus

• March 22 - Why “Marriage” Matters
• March 25 - Real Couples, Real Stories
• March 28 - If we win? If we lose?

So whether you're a political junkie or just want to express your opinion, join the conversation with other community members and experts who are passionate about the topic by using the above hashtags or #supremecourt and #gaymarriage.