Google Earth Rocks the Vote

Google has assembled a wealth of information about the upcoming U.S. general election and will display links to it on its Google Earth mapping application.

Google Earth users now see stars on the U.S. map wherever there is a race in the Nov. 7 election. A number of congressional seats and state governorships are up for grabs.

Clicking on a star opens up a bubble with information about races in that area and links to a variety of information resources, like the Web sites for the U.S. Federal Election Commission and the Center for Responsive Politics’ OpenSecrets.org, which gathers information about campaign contributions. Below each candidate are links that trigger Google Web, image, and news searches about them.

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This is a fantastic idea and a wonderful tool for people to get a tangible grasp on the races that are happening in their neighborhoods. Much of voter apathy seems to be due to people not realizing who their candidates are and how close to their doorsteps these races are taking place.

Get Google Earth here.