The policy, first introduced during the 2020 election, is meant to prevent misinformation about voting, including candidates prematurely claiming victory before a race is called.
Google is implementing the policy “out of an abundance of caution and to limit the potential for confusion, given the likelihood that votes will continue to be counted after Election Day,” per a spokesperson.
I would have assumed that any advertisement tagged as “political” or “election” related would be removed on November 6th as part of the contract. Who would want to spend any money to promote an event after the event takes place?
Bad actors who want to rile up unrest while the votes are being counted.