The Tri-Cities doesn't have online voting - yet - but the interested voter can find out a lot about their candidates without leaving the comfort of their home or office.
Thanks to the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce, which has stepped up to webcast its four all-candidates meetings next week and provide an opportunity to ask questions online, voters can tune in and get involved in the debate using their computer, smartphone or tablet. The service means people don't have to leave home to attend a meeting.
For council watchers and candidate supporters who typically attend these meetings, these changes could add another wrinkle: If they want to stack the deck with soft questions for their chosen candidates and tough ones for others, they'll have to be even more organized.
But the real goal of this project should be to get more people involved in the election campaign, especially those who don't typically go to meetings or have other things to do, such as a variety of parental duties.
The online world has given us a lot of innovations - some bad, some good and some merely a waste of time - but increasing voter engagement through the internet is one benefit that voters should take advantage of.
