BUFFALO, N.Y. — If you live in Chautauqua County and requested an absentee ballot, it should be on the way.
The Board of Elections says it has mailed out more than 8,400 ballots since Friday, and of those, close to 2,200 have already been mailed back.
"It’s a mad house here at our election office,” an election commissioner, Brian Abram, said. "Our staff is doing a great job keeping up with the phone calls and processing requested ballots."
Another commissioner, Norman Green, added: "Our promise is that ballot requests will be processed the same day we receive the request. Anyone who has requested a ballot at any time last week or before should now have received a ballot. If they have not, they need to call."
Green was a gust on 2 On Your Side's Town Hall on Friday evening. He said that even though the election is not until November, those absentee ballots are very safe.
"Every single ballot that comes in is processed in Chautauqua County the same day that it's received, and then it goes under a double lock and key," he said.
The commissioner added that they are sending out absentee ballots as quickly as they can, as you request them.
The commissioners said they anticipate a voter turnout 55,000, "meaning that 15% of expected voters have a ballot in their hand and are voting."
Voters can still request an absentee ballot here, where they can also track their voting and absentee ballot status. They can also (716) 753-4580 to request assistance.
