Internet Association Wants to Help You ‘Get to the Polls’

It’s less than a week until Election Day, and if you’re in search of your nearest polling location or a sample ballot, a new resource from the Internet Association may be just the ticket.

In partnership with the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Voting Information Project, IA this week launched “Get to the Polls  (opens in a new tab),” a website where people can find basic voter information such as polling places, sample ballots, and early-voting locations, with directions.

“The internet has transformed the way that people interact with each other, with businesses, and with their elected officials,” Michael Beckerman, IA president and CEO, said in a statement  (opens in a new tab). “Our partnership with the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Voting Information Project provides voters with the resources they need to have their voices heard.”

The new site, which is supported by a number of tech giants including AOL, Facebook, Google, Meetup, Tumblr, and Twitter, uses data from Google’s Civic Information application programming interface (API) to generate voter information once a user has submitted his or her address.

“We joined forces with the Internet Association and technology powerhouses from across the web to make official election information available where people look for it most—online and on mobile devices,” Zach Markovits, who manages Pew’s Voting Information Project, said in a statement. “Thanks to our technology partners and election officials from across the country, voters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia will have this information at their fingertips, freely and easily available.”

Founded after a 2008 Pew study uncovered a lack of a single, standardized source of Election Day information, the Voting Information Project  (opens in a new tab) is a partnership among state election officials, Pew, and Google to offer a free depository of basic voter resources.

In a separate get-out-the-vote effort, several nonprofits and associations are working to increase Latino turnout at the polls this year. Coinciding with National Hispanic Heritage Month, 50 Latino groups recently launched the #PowerOfOurVote campaign,  consisting of three voter registration drives.

“We are calling American Latinos to rise above our political differences and to unite as a community this November,” Maria Teresa Kumar, president and CEO of one of the organizing groups, Voto Latino, said in a statement  (opens in a new tab) last month. “For the next month, we will show that Latinos stand tall because we have pride in our culture, and we recognize the power of our vote.”

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