Decode JSON with unknown structure

Unmarshal into map[string]interface{}:

package main

import "encoding/json"

func main() {
    in := []byte(`{ "votes": { "option_A": "3" } }`)
    var raw map[string]interface{}
    if err := json.Unmarshal(in, &raw); err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    raw["count"] = 1
    out, err := json.Marshal(raw)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }
    println(string(out))
}

https://play.golang.org/p/o8ZwvgsQmoO