If you need to figure out where the heck to vote or drop off your ballot, Google will now point you in the right direction in Maps and Search.
Beginning today, Google will display information on your nearest voting locations when you search for queries related to ballot drop boxes, early voting, and in-person voting locations. Where information isn’t immediately available, which was the case when I tried the feature, Google instead pointed me to the official website for my local elections office. Google said it will continue updating information as it’s made available and plans to provide data on more than 200,000 voting locations across the U.S.
Google has previously made information on voting and registration available when users searched for related queries, and today’s features expand on those efforts through partnerships with state election authorities, the nonpartisan nonprofit Democracy Works, and the Voting Information Project.
The feature will also extend to Google Assistant-enabled phones, smart speakers, and smart displays by asking, “Hey Google, where do I vote?” As with searching on Chrome or in Maps, the query will prompt the Assistant to pull up locations and provide directions to your nearest voting location. Google said this feature will arrive on Assistant-enabled devices “soon.”
Go vote!