Facebook will integrate a new feature on its app and website called Vote Planner, aimed to help potential voters learn more the upcoming election process, its candidates, and the steps required to vote successfully. The company announced its release on Friday.
The feature will show users the different initiatives and candidate prospects for the upcoming ballot. Information about the candidates includes their stances on various issues, official websites, endorsers, and recent posts.
The Vote Planner will contain information not only for November 8th’s presidential election but also for various statewide or local office races. Users can input their address to receive updates on political elections tailored for them.
How to make a Vote Plan with Facebook?
A banner reading ‘Election Day is Almost Here!‘ will appear on all American users’ News Feed. By clicking ‘Preview Your Ballot,’ they will be able to access the Vote Planner. The default election is the presidential race, which appears at the top.
Facebook will show users their provided address, which they can change immediately to get better ballot suggestions. Voting options will first display which candidates are running for office in no particular order. Users can click on them to learn more (as stated above) or click ‘Favorite’ to save their preferred options.
Upon choosing a preferred option, Facebook suggests voters email themselves a brief document with their candidate for them to use on Election Day. A third step includes making a post encourage other users to make their vote plans, and finally, a location tool for voters to find their assigned polling places.
The company designed the ballot preview using information provided by the non-partisan Center for Technology and Civic Life (CTCL). There is an option for users to report any wrong candidate information they find on the site.
How will Facebook help me choose a candidate?
Favoriting a candidate allows the voter to share this action on their profile (or keep it private). Accessing the candidates’ information will open their official Facebook page with individual listings for various categories.
The ‘Issues’ option contained in each fan page is the longest, providing voters with multimedia resources about their stances on topics like abortion, education, foreign policy, immigration, health, and much more.
Each candidate’s page also contains biographical information, an option to sign up to their campaigns, schedules for their upcoming events, social media, photos, videos, and even an official shop for candidate-related merch.
Source: Facebook Newsroom