Google, Twitter and others join final push to get out the vote

Visitors to Google’s homepage Monday were greeted with a cartoon collection of American flags and posters displaying the word “vote” in a variety of languages. On the eve of Tuesday’s historic election, the patriot Google Doodle served not only as a friendly reminder to vote but also as a useful tool to help users locate their designated polling stations.

Twitter feeds and email inboxes were similarly adorned with pre-election prompts that allowed unsure users to enter their address and confirm where exactly they must go to cast their ballots.

As the most tech-savvy presidential campaign cycle to date comes to a close, Monday’s mobilization efforts were part of a final online push to get out the vote.

Back in September, Facebook launched its first-ever national voter registration drive, which placed a reminder to register atop the news feeds of all U.S.-based users ages 18 and up, provided a link to the federal government’s online guide to registering by state,and encouraged users to share their newly registered status with friends in hopes of inspiring others to do the same.

Just last week, the social network rolled out a personalized ballot guide, which aims to help users to prepare for Election Day by providing basic information on all of the candidates running for federal, state and local office, depending on their location.

And Yahoo Search also joined the fray:

The popular car-sharing service Zipcar is also getting into the election spirit with its #drivethevote promotion, offering members free car rentals during select hours on Tuesday in order to help them get to the polls.

Though not necessarily exclusive to one particular demographic, some initiatives, like Spotify’s “Clarify” series — a collection of audio and video clips in which popular musicians discuss issues like education, immigration and the economy — are more explicitly geared toward engaging young voters.

“With millions of young people listening to Spotify, we wanted to use the power of our platform to inspire civic engagement,” Kerry Steib, Spotify’s director of social impact said about the series when it was first released in September.

Steib continued: “Through Clarify, we hope to create a meaningful and entertaining way for music fans to explore the issues and provide information that inspires them to turn out for the polls in November.”

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