Facebook announced today that it is rolling out its Voting Information Center in the U.S., as promised in June. The new hub is designed to provide information and resources to voters in an effort to help "protect the integrity" of the 2020 U.S. polls.
The Voting Information Center is launching today on Facebook and Instagram, where users of voting age will see relevant election-related information in their state through notifications at the top of those apps. Inspired by its COVID-19 Information Center, Facebook"s new destination for voters will provide details about registration and a way to request mail-in ballots from state and local election authorities.
Facebook says it will work with state election officials through November to add verified election information from each state to the hub. It will also help state and local election authorities send voting updates to their constituents through a new Facebook tool called Voting Alerts. A new section called Facts About Voting will also be rolled out, containing articles on election and voting topics from the Bipartisan Policy Center. The hub will also provide information on voter registration and absentee voting for the estimated three million U.S. citizens living abroad, including military personnel.
The social media giant recently began to label election-related Facebook posts from politicians. It will now apply those labels to all Facebook and Instagram posts concerning the elections.
Facebook is also adding a way for people to sign up as poll workers in the hub. In addition, Facebook"s News tab will display news articles related to the U.S. polls, with news updates on and after the election night to help fight misinformation. However, articles from news publishers that are tied to political entities will be excluded.