Where Can I Vote? Google Maps Lists Voting Locations!

According to Google Trends, lots of people are currently trying to figure out where their local polling place is. So it’s time for a good reminder of what we covered earlier. Google Maps has a special area and search shortcut to help you find where you’re registered to vote, voting location hours and more.

Searches like where can i vote or polling places make a special “shortcut” box appear at the top of Google’s results. Enter your address into the box:

Alternatively, just go directly here and enter your address.

After you enter your address, Google Maps returns where you live and where you should go to vote. Here’s how it would look if current US President George W. Bush entered his White House address:

As I said, the topic of voting polls, where to vote and voting hours is amazingly strong right now. Looking over the top 100 queries on Google Trends, I see:

• where do i vote
• where am i registered to vote
• where can i vote
• where to vote california
• how do i know if i m registered to vote
• voting polls
• voting locations
• voting hours
• what time do the polls open
• voting times
• polling hours
• polling locations
• find my polling place
• voting places
• www.canivote.org
• canivote.org

That’s nearly 20% of the top searches devoted to people obviously preparing to vote (which is great!).

Can I Vote is a special site that you can see appearing at the bottom of the list. Run by a national association of state election officials, it also provides polling place information.

POSTSCRIPT: For 2008 election results, please see Election Results From The Search Engines & Beyond, published on November 4, 2008.