BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Thousands of potential voters in Buffalo may not have to "write" down Byron Brown's name in the ballot next month.
The mayor told reporters on Thursday his campaign supporters will be educating voters on the topic, which will include the distribution "tens of thousands" of stamps.
"We have pre-identified thousands of people who have indicated they want to vote for me," Brown said. "We will provide those stamps to the thousands of individuals they want to write down Byron Brown in the right-bottom corner of the ballot. All of those individuals will get stamps ahead of time."
Brown said this is about giving voters an option, arguing some voters may have large handwriting and others may have issues like arthritis, which would make voting difficult for them. He downplayed that it may be because some could misspell his name.
Mayor Brown lost in the June democratic mayoral primary to political newcomer India Walton. Walton is the lone candidate whose name will appear on the ballot for mayor in Buffalo.
"Given the demonstrated willingness of the Brown campaign to flagrantly violate election law, it is extremely important that all Buffalonians who believe in open,democratic elections closely monitor the rubber stamp gambit to make sure no stamps are distributed or handed off within 100 feet of a given polling location," Walton campaign spokesman Jesse Myerson said.
Using stamps to write in a candidate is legal, according to Erie County Republican Elections Commissioner Ralph Mohr.
"It has been used," Mohr said. "There was a write-in campaign which was waged in the City of Lackawanna several years ago. The candidate there had people stationed outside the polling place handing out stamps and the stamps were used."
Mohr warned, though, that stamps cannot be left in the voting area after they have been used. The commissioner said stamps left in the area could indicate the board of elections are urging voters to stamp in the name of a candidate, which is why they are instructing inspectors to ensure no stamps are left in the voting area.
"If stamps are left in the voting area, they will be confiscated by the election inspectors," Mohr said. "We do instruct the inspectors to return them to the campaign if there's a representative from the campaign standing outside the polling location."
Election Day is November 2.