With so many candidates running in Saturday's civic elections, figuring out whom to vote for is no easy task.
Many voters read newspaper coverage of candidates and meetings. Some check out wannabe councillors', mayors' and school trustees' campaign pamphlets. Others may base their votes on simple name recognition.
Now, there's another option as a pair of locals started a website to help.
TriCityVotes.com gives information about the candidates and election events, and allows visitors to create a list they can easily print off and take to the voting booth.
Jon Strocel, founder of the city and operator of events blog theV3H.com, said the new site is designed to make voting easier.
"Really, it is about increasing turnout," he told The Tri-City News. "Unless regular families get out there and vote, you are continuously going to have the same people running over and over again."
Strocel added that in 2008 in Coquitlam, for example, only 21.5% of eligible voters cast ballots, a number he would like to see increase.
Visitors to TriCityVotes.com can read up on candidates and then click on the people they wish to vote for to add them to their list.
While the numbers of visitors to the site is tracked, Strocel said information concerning who picked which candidates is kept private.
"It is totally anonymous," he said. "We don't keep any of the information. When you choose a candidate, it is all within your browser so we don't even see it."
So far, the site has garnered about 4,000 visitors and 53,000 page views, and has cost Strocel and his partner Dave Zille approximately $1,500 to create. Some of the costs are recouped by advertisements sold on the page but Strocel said the website is far from a profit-making venture.
"It is basically a hobby," he said. "I am certainly not quitting my day job."
The website will remain online up until voting day. Voters can also subscribe to the site in order to get election results sent to their email address when ballots are tallied on Nov. 19.
Strocel hopes to keep the website functioning beyond the 2011 civic campaign. TriCityVotes.com, he said, will be revived for upcoming elections and byelections for all levels of government in an effort to keep the online community engaged in local democracy.
