Google is under scrutiny after its search engine provided U.S. voters with information on where to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris but failed to offer similar details for Republican nominee Donald Trump.
The issue was first flagged by social media users who noticed that when they typed “Where can I vote for Harris?” into Google, they were directed to an interactive map of polling stations where they could input their address to find the nearest voting location. In contrast, a search for “Where can I vote for Trump?” led users only to election news stories, without any voting location details.
This discrepancy sparked widespread criticism, with some accusing the tech giant of political bias and election interference. Elon Musk, owner of X (formerly Twitter) and a supporter of Trump, shared the issue with his followers, asking, “Are others seeing this too?” Meanwhile, critics on social media accused Google of pushing “leftist trash propaganda” and favoring Democratic candidates.
In response, Google acknowledged the problem and attributed it to a technical glitch. The company explained that the issue arose because “Harris” is also the name of a county in Texas, and a similar problem occurred with searches involving Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, as it shares the name with a county as well. Google stressed that the issue was now resolved but noted that “very few people actually search for voting places this way.”
The search engine giant has long faced accusations of political bias, and this latest incident adds to its ongoing scrutiny, particularly among conservative voices. The controversy comes on the heels of other claims, such as allegations from Donald Trump Jr. and other Republicans that Google downplayed the failed assassination attempt on the former president earlier this year.
