Google launched the Google India Elections Center to help engage and prepare India’s 700 million eligible voters for next month’s general elections, reports TechCrunch.

Google has organized similar web-based election centers in the US and Australia in the past, but Google India’s election center offers new features which were not available for those in the US or Australia.

The site, which is available in English and Hindi, offers information about all aspects of the election process in an attempt to empower Indian voters and thwart any attempts at biasing at a village level, where the only source of information is often partial.

Through the site, voters can:

• Confirm their voter registration status
• Find their polling location, view their constituency on a map, and access election news
• Consult data about the area where they vote, including changes in literacy, poverty, and employment rates in the constituency since the last election
• Learn about the background of their Member of Parliament and this year’s candidates, and see politician’s voting records, and attendance
• Check updates on election schedules, online polls, discussion forums, opinions, and photos

Google has established partnerships with the Hindustan Times and some local NGOs, including the Association for Democratic Reforms, Indicus Analytics, the Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, the Liberty Institute, and PRS Legislative Services.

Yahoo developed a similar site last week, but as it is on a slightly smaller scale, it is overshadowed by Google India’s election site.

In October last year, right before the US presidential elections, it was reported that some 7% of online voters said they were likely to change their vote before the election. It was also found that their change of opinion was often determined by the types of sites they selected for political information after conducting an internet search.