| Immediate Release; London, UK For the first time ever, the public can search for who will be on their ballot paper and get unbiased results directly on their internet search page. The US technology giant Google is using crowdsourced data to power its election search results. The millions of voters who access Google UK everyday can now directly ask Google ‘who can I vote for’ and are immediately presented with a list of candidates for their constituency. Voters access the information by entering their postcode. Google then lists each person who will be on the ballot paper. This work has been made possible in part by civic-minded volunteers at YourNextMP.com who collected data on every candidate standing at the General Election. From the Google results box, voters can click through to YourNextMP.com to see candidates’ websites, emails, social media profiles and election leaflets. YourNextMP.com pulls together information about each candidate, from election leaflets to twitter usernames and email addresses. YourNextMP.com also compiles news about the candidates from local and national press. Some candidates have even submitted their CV to the site, so that voters can see their future MP’s experience and qualifications. The Google partnership builds on the existing success of the YourNextMP project, which has had over 3 million page views. The crowdsourced data has also been used by media and campaign organisations such as The Telegraph, The Guardian, 38 Degrees and the RSPB. The creators of the website say they aim to help voters make a better informed decision on Thursday. Visit YourNextMP.com |