Facebook launches 'I'm a voter' feature worldwide

MENLO PARK, Calif., May 20 (UPI) -- Facebook launched its "I'm a voter" election feature worldwide, looking ahead to the multiple national elections in the next few months.

The feature allows users to broadcast on the social network that they voted in an election. It was first introduced during the 2012 U.S. general elections, and was engaged by more than nine million users. The feature was also made available to voters in India's recently concluded national elections, with four million users clicking the "I'm a voter" button.

The button will next be available to voters in the European parliament elections and national elections in Colombia, South Korea, Indonesia, Sweden, Scotland, New Zealand, and Brazil later this year. The feature will also be made available to voters during the U.S. midterm congressional elections.

The button is another attempt by Facebook to engrain itself in the daily lives of its users, by letting users tell their friends that they voted without having to broadcast who they voted for. Facebook expects the worldwide rollout will result in 400 million people seeing the message, more than a third of its 1.1 billion active users.