BUFFALO, N.Y. — Polling sites around Western New York opened this morning at 6 a.m.
At one polling location voters began lining up as soon as 5:15 a.m. eager to cast their ballots.
The Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo in the Elmwood village is traditionally a very popular voting location, according to the Erie County Board of Elections.
Before the doors opened there were just over fifty people in line to vote.
The first voter, Ernest Petty said that while he thought about early voting, it is a tradition for he and his wife to vote on election day. Petty said, "It feels good to be first, because I want to get this done, I want to get it over with and I want to do my civic duty,".
The mood was tense as eager voters waited almost five minutes after six to be let in, but once the doors opened there was a steady stream until almost 7 a.m.
Voters Elliott Bystrak and Lexie Hoeglemeier came early on election day in fear it would be as crowded as early voting, when they originally tried. Bystrak said,"Early voting was just so mugged so we wanted to be sure we got in right away,".
For voters like Derek and Lisa Buyan, it was important for them to cast their ballots in person, something Derek said he has never done before.
Buyan said, "I think voting is really really important, it's our civic responsibility. I think this is probably the most important election in my lifetime,".