Subscribe

Google unveils elections hub

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 16 Apr 2014
Google says its election hub contains party and candidate information, voting locations and election news.
Google says its election hub contains party and candidate information, voting locations and election news.

Google SA has launched its Elections Hub in what the search giant hopes will be a "one-stop site" as SA prepares to go to the polls next month.

The hub is intended to be "an online portal where voters, journalists and campaigners can easily track all the latest news, trends and information related to the 2014 elections", according to Google.

"The Internet is playing an increasingly important role in the way that both political parties and citizens participate and engage in the elections across Africa. Since 2007, Google has launched over 40 editions of the elections platform, resulting in Google elections tools and resources being used over 500 million times by people around the world," the company says in a statement.

According to Google, users can access election-related information, including party and candidate data, voting locations, real-time election news, search trends and YouTube videos from political parties, media and civil society.

The portal is also mobile friendly and Google says it collaborated with media, civil society organisations and political parties in the process of formulating the hub.

Fortune Mgwili-Sibanda, policy and government relations manager at Google SA, says technology is changing the way voters and politicians share information, debate issues, and make informed decisions.

"The Internet is driving higher levels of engagement now than ever before, but there is still much that can be done," adds Mgwili-Sibanda.

Share