The state Campaign Spending Commission is urging voters to follow the flow of political money.

For the first time, the commission has made donation and expenditure reports filed by more than 300 political action committees available on the Internet.

The agency posted the reports on its Web site over the weekend so that voters can quickly see how much money PACs registered in Hawai'i have given to various political candidates for state and county offices, commission director Barbara Wong said.

Voters "can see with one click" which candidates received contributions from a particular company, union or special interest group, Wong said.

The reports cover the period between January and mid-September.

Such information was previously available on paper reports filed at the commission's office. Scanning each page of every report was time-consuming, and the commission may not repeat the process with new reports that PACs must file before the general election on Nov. 7, Wong said.

She said she will ask the Legislature next year to pass a bill that requires all PACs — also known as "noncandidate committees" — to file such reports electronically, so that they will be immediately posted on the commission's Web site.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.