WebProNews

As much as we’re bombarded with political claptrap in America, elections may be an even bigger deal in Australia, where voting is compulsory.  As a result, Google Australia is keying up for the coming federal election.

“We’ve now updated the ‘Australian 2007 Election’ feature in Google Maps so that, for all 150 House of Representatives seats, you can click on any candidate’s name to see all their Google search results, or their YouTube channel,” report Rob Shilkin and Julian Sonego on the Official Google Blog.  “And with one click, you can now find an incredible array of information from across the Internet -- news stories, videos, personal websites, party websites, blogs, and all the rest -- about all 1,054 candidates for all 150 seats.”

Even if you’re not familiar with Australian politics, this makes for an impressive display.  Shilkin and Sonego later continue, “We’ve also added in all polling booth locations based on information from the Australian Electoral Commission, so voters can easily find their nearest polling booth on the map, together with opening hours and wheelchair accessibility.”

The election will take place on the 24th, so that leaves Australians (and interested outsiders) about nine more days to process these reports.  Time to get out the reading glasses.