Filipino volunteers help plot voting centers on Google Maps

As election day draws near, Google Philippines calls out for Filipino volunteers to contribute their knowledge on the location of voting centers in their city or province through the 2013 Map Your Precinct. This effort is to populate Google Maps with information on where Filipinos can vote based on their city or region and their precinct number.

“Having the right information is crucial during the elections. We want to reach millions of Filipinos online and equip them with accurate information in time for the May elections,” said Aileen Apolo, Google Head of Outreach for Southeast Asia. “There are still a lot of areas that need to be mapped so we encourage Filipinos to help make the maps better. They will be helping fellow citizens find their voting centers.”

Filipino volunteers are not required to be familiar with Google MapMaker. Volunteers can simply enter the city or region they are familiar with and see a list of unmapped voting centers. The contributor simply needs to drop the placemark on the right place on Google Maps to identify the location of the voting center.

Google will assist Filipinos in holding their own mapUps or a meeting with several Google map makers who will contribute in mapping the community. MapUps, which require to have up to 10 mapper volunteers, can be conducted at universities or computer laboratories; Internet cafes, or basically anywhere with strong Internet connection. Details can be found in the 2013 Map Your Precinct website.