x
Breaking News
More () »

More than 137,000 Erie County ballots cast so far in early voting

On Friday, 22,570 Erie County voters cast their ballots. The last day of early voting is Sunday.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — According to the Erie County Board of Elections, more than 22,000 ballots were cast Friday on the seventh day of early voting. 

More than 137,000 Erie County voters have cast their ballots since early voting began last Saturday. 

Erie County's Republican Board of Elections commissioner, Ralph Mohr, said numbers coming in already show a good variety.

"It seems to be every age group," Mohr said. "It seems to be every party. I mean, every demographic. They're heavy in the suburbs. They're heavy in the rural areas. They're heavy in the city."   

He said between mail-in ballots and early voting, about 30 percent of the voters in Erie County have already taken part in the election.

However, there could be a lot more to go.

"I've seen some turnouts in presidential elections exceeding 80 percent. I certainly believe that this year's election is going to exceed 80 percent, and it may be one of the highest or the highest that we've seen in modern times," Mohr told 2 On Your Side.

Still, if you choose to vote on election day, Mohr doesn't anticipate any long lines.

"On election day, we have over 800 precincts which are going to be open, so that will certainly diminish the lines as well," said Mohr. 

He added that in a normal year, lines typically aren't an issue on election day anyways.

This weekend early voting in Erie County will take place from noon to 6 p.m., with Sunday being the last day. 

Click here to view the designated early voting locations in Erie County.

Erie County's Democratic Board of Elections commissioner, Jeremy Zellner, spoke with 2 On Your Side during Friday's Town Hall to offer some insight into what to expect Tuesday night and beyond.

Part of the expectations: he said the results will not be complete.

"We're going to have results on election night, we're going to have a lot of results," Zellner said. "But we're going to have to wait to count the absentees;  for 13 days, we won't even begin. We have the schedule on our website that lays out the process and the dates.

"We've going to wait to get the military ballots in to count those. We've got to check to make sure no one voted in person and mailed their ballot into us. We've got to pull their absentees, so that process takes a little while and our staff is not stopping working on election night. They'll be working hard through the month of November."

2 On Your Side also asked Zellner about possible incidents of voter intimidation at the polls. Some Western New Yorkers have been asked to pull out their IDs as they wait in line to vote. 

"Early voting in New York is new to everyone including our election inspectors. What we have the ability to do now is to scan our voter ID cards, fast passes, and licenses to pull up the information of the voter," Zellner said. "Some of our inspectors may be asking for these things but not demanding the license to vote, because you don't need a license to vote.

"You don't need any information to vote, but it helps us move the line quicker if you have that stuff. But voters, if they don't have a license, they should feel comfortable to vote and register to vote just as easy as everyone else."

Before You Leave, Check This Out