The Voting Information Project’s (VIP) 2020 General Election Plans
We know that lots of different groups rely on VIP data to help their users find where to vote and what’s on their ballot. With COVID-19 precautions making for an unusual election cycle, we wanted to share information on the data we are planning to have this fall and the free tools we offer.
Our dataset will include drop boxes and early vote sites
We will be publishing drop box data everywhere it’s been made available across the country. VIP typically publishes drop boxes for states that vote predominantly by mail, such as Utah, Oregon, and Hawaii. As other states encourage absentee and mail-in voting to limit the spread of COVID-19, there will be many more drop boxes available nationwide! We plan to surface drop box locations, as well as dates and hours of availability.
Similarly, we will be publishing early vote locations, dates, and hours across the country. We’re hearing from election experts that if voters take advantage of early voting, where it’s available, it can help reduce the likelihood of long lines on Election Day.
As noted in the Google Civic Information API election data guidelines, you can view the estimated data delivery dates for each state and D.C., as well as our shared calendar, which we update as data becomes available for each election. If you’d like to receive updates in your inbox as data is live, you can also join our VIP Community Google Group.
Keeping voters informed with Election Notices
This year more than ever, government officials need to promote multiple logistic details to voters for each election. To help boost those important messages, we’re now offering a new piece of data in the Google Civic Information API: Election Notice.
Election Notice allows election officials to highlight critical details for voters, like “Every registered voter will be mailed a ballot” or “Please practice social distancing inside of polling places.”
Of course, not every state will choose to include an Election Notice, but we encourage developers using the API to leverage this feature in their tools when possible. We appreciate your help boosting the trusted information that election officials need to get out to voters!
Our lookup tools are available for free
In addition to publishing data through the Google Civic Information API, VIP offers free tools that anyone can use. Simply paste the code from our customizable embeddable tool to add a polling place and drop box lookup tool on your website. Or, direct voters to find that information on our standalone sites, GetToThePolls.org and GetToThePolls.com.
To help voters who may not have internet access and voters who require text-based services, we also offer a free SMS tool. By texting “VOTE” or “VOTO” to GOVOTE (468-683), voters can find polling locations, drop boxes, and contact information for local election officials.
VIP’s free tools are currently available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Korean, Thai, Khmer, Japanese, Hindi, Farsi, Russian, and Armenian.
We’re ready if states need a backup
During the 2020 primaries, three states referred voters to a VIP tool on Election Day when their websites or voter lookup tools experienced technical difficulties. In anticipation of high traffic on state websites leading up to and on Election Day, we’re providing state officials with information on how to include VIP and our free tools in their contingency plans.
One reason many states rely on VIP as a backup system is that we’re able to update data right through polls closing. (Sometimes this means even updating when the polls are closing, as hours are occasionally extended!) It can be helpful to remind users that they should check back before voting, in case things have changed.
We’re committed to helping election officials uplift official information to voters about where to vote and what’s on their ballots where they look for it most—online!