Video Your Vote! And Then Watch the Election on YouTube

After thousands of campaign stops, tens of thousands of speeches, and billions of videos viewed on YouTube, the 2008 Election is finally here. What began almost two years ago -- when seven of the 16 primary presidential candidates announced their campaigns on our You Choose '08 platform -- is finally coming to a close as Americans turn out to vote for should lead the country these next four years.

The influence you've had on this political season has been well noted in this blog and by most every major media outlet in the world. Your use of video to document and describe this Election on your own terms has created a new, more democratic political ecosystem and has caused many to call this the "YouTube Election." But while the profound increase in online activity has reshaped our national dialogue in so many new ways, today is where we see just how much it matters: the ultimate political action isn't to upload a video to YouTube or to watch "Yes We Can" or "We Need McCain" one more time; it's to GET OUT AND VOTE.

Today we're featuring all political videos on the homepage of YouTube; check them out and get a flavor for what's coming in on Election Day. We're also plotting videos of your polling place experiences on a special Google Maps mash-up on our Video Your Vote channel with PBS. So bring your video camera with you to your polling place to document your experience; then submit your videos to the Video Your Vote channel and keep an eye on PBS's Election coverage -- they'll broadcast the best ones on TV.

And as always, you can keep track of what the candidates are up to on our You Choose '08 platform.

Congratulations, YouTube users. You've made this a historic Election -- now get out and vote in it! Then stay tuned here to see the first YouTube Election unfold, on video.