Google has created a special “doodle” to commemorate Colombia’s presidential elections.
| Colombia’s 2014 elections | ||||||||||||||||
Candidate profiles
Full election coverageElection polls |
The search engine’s homepage logo appropriates the colors of the five different political parties participating in Sunday’s contest, with a voting urn decorated in the pattern of the Colombian flag replacing the middle “g.”
The doodle, which went up originally Sunday morning, shows a completed ballot being submitted.
Users who click on the logo are redirected to the latest news about Colombia’s presidential election, as well as general information about the proceedings.
Polling stations opened Sunday morning at 8AM and will close at 4PM local time on the same day.
The results, meanwhile, will begin being announced at 8PM, with final results coming in by no later than 10PM, according to election officials.
Over 16 million — less than half — of 33 million eligible Colombians are expected to cast their ballot for their preferred candidate.
Google is well-known for recognizing important and special days often with a humoristic addition to the doodle. The international internet giant made a similar gesture during Colombia’s most recent congressional elections last March.
MORE: Google doodle invites Colombians to vote in congressional elections
The previous election day doodle, was seen as an invitation to vote, as is this one, which shows a ballot entering the election urn in the middle of the image, and the letters lined up, as if waiting for their turn.
This correlates with the statements from both candidates, parties, and government authorities on Twitter that throughout the day have encouraged Colombians to vote.
El voto es un derecho y una obligación. ¡Todas y todos a las urnas! #EleccionesColombia @MinInterior
— INCI Oficial (@INCI_colombia) 25. maj 2014
At prior presidential elections the voter turn-out has been around 45 %, a figure expected to drop for this year’s contest.
None of the candidates are expected to reach the absolute majority necessary for a first round victory, which means the two top candidates to emerge from Sunday’s elections will likely square off in a second round runoff scheduled for June 15.