Google integrates voter ID requirements into its search results

As debate rolls on over the impact of voter identification laws on elections in the United States, a new wrinkle has quietly been introduced: Google.

Users across the United States who use Google to search for information on whether they might need a driver's license or other form of ID to cast a ballot at their local polling place will be presented with the nitty-gritty details of the oft-complicated voting identification requirements and laws -- specified down to whatever spot in the country from which he or she happens to be searching. The new results are part of a broader Google push to increase what we might call ambient civic awareness. Google searches for "How do I vote?," for example, bring up the step-by-step process for casting a ballot, either in person or by mail, with details, too, on how to make sure a voter is registered.