As of my current knowledge and information searched from reliable resources, such as ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), there is no top-level domain (TLD) for “.voting”.
Top-Level Domains are the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System (DNS) of the internet. These are often signified by the tail end of a website URL, such as “.com”, “.org”, or “.net”. For instance, in the URL “www.google.com”, “.com” is the TLD. TLDs provide crucial information about a website, oftentimes suggesting its purpose or location.
ICANN, the body that supervises domain names globally, has defined categories for these top-level domains (TLDs). These categories mainly include Country Code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) like .us for United States, .de for Germany and other 250+ countries. Apart from ccTLDs, there are Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) – such as .com, .net, .org, etc., which are not specific to any country. Post 2012, ICANN also started to expand the number of gTLDs to include a myriad of new domains like .app, .music, .blog etc.
However, notwithstanding this expansion and the wide range of TLDs available, “.voting” is not currently a recognized or available TLD. As per ICANN’s directory, no such domain has been granted or is in the application process. This means that, for the moment, websites cannot end with a “.voting” TLD.
While it’s possible that a “.voting” domain could be useful – for instance, in providing a dedicated space for voting-related issues, civic information, or electoral services – the process to create such a TLD is substantial. It would require submitting an application to ICANN during an open application period, a significant financial investment, as well as fulfilling a number of stringent technical and operational criteria.
So to encapsulate, there is currently no “.voting” TLD available. However, this does not prevent such a domain being created in the future if ICANN opens up for new TLD applications and if there’s a compelling case for such a domain. For those interested in future TLD creation, it would be beneficial to monitor ICANN’s activities and updates.
Sources:
- Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Website: https://www.icann.org/
- ICANN List of Top Level Domains: https://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt
- ICANN’s Applicant Guidebook for new gTLDs: https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb
- ICANN’s Program Status and Statistics for new gTLDs: https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/statistics
