Amazon prepares Alexa for the midterm elections
Echo Show devices will display visuals with Alexa's answers.
Amazon knows you'll ask Alexa all sorts of questions about the midterms and politics in general, so it's been preparing the voice assistant for the event. It has teamed up with nonprofit digital encyclopedia Ballotpedia to equip Alexa with answers first-time voters will find especially helpful. You can ask the assistant when the polls will open and what's on your ballot. Alexa can even answer what it means to vote yes or no for a certain ballot measure and can list nominees running for a specific position.
On Election Day itself, you can ask Alexa for a general update by asking "Alexa, what's my election update?" If you want to get more specific, you can ask the assistant who's winning or how a particular candidate is doing. Alexa is also prepared to answer post-election questions, such as who won, how a candidate did and how many seats a particular party gained. In case you have an Echo Show, Alexa will also include visuals with its replies -- ask it how many seats a party gained or who won a certain position, for instance, and it will display graphs on the device's screen.
Amazon has been making sure that Alexa is equipped with the abilities to answer your elections-related inquiries for years now. In its announcement post, the tech giant said it brings together a war room of writers, engineers and data scientists for big events like this to make sure the assistant can provide accurate answers in real time. Obviously, Alexa's replies will be concise and to the point, since Amazon tailored them for a voice-first experience, but they're likely good enough if you don't have time to search online for more detailed information.
