BUFFALO, N.Y. — Erie County voters have turned out in a big way, according to elections commissioners Ralph Mohr and Jeremy Zellner.
"We have over 51,000 voters in Erie County exercising their right to vote early," Republican Commissioner Ralph Mohr said.
Erie County reported just after 9:30 p.m. Friday that the current early voter count was 54,318.
Democratic Commissioner Jeremy Zellner says the convenience is bringing voters out early.
"We're seeing voters that usually don't vote early this year coming out and taking advantage of it," Zellner said.
Before the polls closed Friday, over 54,000 Erie County voters submitted their ballots, out of more than 623,000. That represents about 8.1% of the registered voters in the county.
"We are well on track to exceed the number of total votes that were cast in the 2018 gubernatorial election when we add together the absentee ballots that had been returned," Mohr said.
Additionally, Zellner also attributes the success of early voting in Erie County to the number of polling sites. There are 38 in total across the county, at least one in each municipality, and one for every council district in the City of Buffalo.
The county was able to do this, Zellner says, with funding by the state.
"We also took advantage of grants that year that were offered by the state for each site, so that we could get the hardware paid for all of our sites," Zellner said.
In nearby Chautauqua County, over 5,500 people have voted, just over 6% of registered voters.
Election officials there, earlier this week, put out a warning about a so-called voter integrity group going door to door and allegedly using intimidating language to residents. The county said that is not part of regular election activity conducted by election officials.
2 On Your Side asked the Erie County election commissioners if anything nefarious has been reported locally. Commissioner Mohr said there haven't been any reports of intimidation in Erie County.
"We showed last year that we will not hesitate to prosecute instances of voter intimidation," Mohr said. "We've also met with the local police agencies, the FBI, and the Department of Justice, and we all have a plan in place in the event that anything should occur."
Commissioner Zellner applauded his working relationship with Mohr, saying while they may disagree on politics, they both respect the fundamental institution of the election system.
"It's important for us to make sure that there are no roadblocks in front of anyone's ability to vote," Zellner said.
Erie County polling stations will be open between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on the final two days of early voting. Early voting ends on Sunday, Nov. 6.