Google mashes up US elections

Google has created a mash-up that combines its popular Google Earth mapping program with information about the US congressional races coming up in two weeks.

The Google Earth 2006 election resource tool indicates the US' 436 congressional districts with stars on the popular 3D map of the country. Clicking on a star pops open a bubble window that has information on the candidates in that race.

The window also includes links to news, images and web search results on candidates, as well as to information on campaign finance reform and where and how to vote.

John Hanke, director of Google Earth and Google Maps, said: "Our hope is that young people using Google Earth will… make better, informed choices."

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The project was the brainchild of two members of the Google Earth team who created it during the 20 per cent time allotted each week for engineers to work on special projects of their own design, Hanke said.

The election-related material is a layer on top of Google Earth, Hanke said. Google has worked on other customised layers for the US National Parks Service, the Discovery Channel and National Geographic.

Elinor Mills writes for CNET News.com