Google Helps Voters Choose Right Candidates

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Australian voters can now have an intimate look at parties, candidates and election issues, 24 hours a day by simply logging on to www.google.com .au/election2007.

The site has a number of innovative online tools, including:

Google Maps and Google Earth

Google's site features special Federal Election information viewable in Google Maps that will give users information about electorate boundaries, sitting members, candidates and margins. Using Google Maps' easy-to-use interface, users will be able to zoom and pan, and see satellite imagery and road maps of all 150 Federal seats.

Electorate boundaries and seat names will also be visible in a layer in Google Earth.

YouTube Channels

All six political parties that are represented in Federal Parliament (Australian Democrats, Family First, Greens, Labor, Liberal and Nationals) have established their own dedicated YouTube channels. Google's site contains links to these channels and a "gadget" that enables users to watch the parties' latest videos on their iGoogle homepage.

Google Australia has also established its own election channel on YouTube, entitled "Australia Votes", which will feature election content and be a forum for discussing Australian politics and the election. It is located at www.youtube.co m/australiavotes .