BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - A visit to the Erie County Board of Elections on Tuesday may have looked like a game of Bingo. But it wasn't.
Dozens of wooden balls with a number on them were placed into a spinner. The rule? Two spins forward and at least one spin backward until the ball came out. That number would then be placed on the numbered board.
It's part of the process known as ballot positioning.
As election season gets closer the @ErieCountyBOE is drawing for ballot positioning for all the local races. pic.twitter.com/xdoJMzxO1H
— WBEN NewsRadio 930AM (@NewsRadio930) September 10, 2019"We're laying out the ballot," Republican Commissioner Ralph Mohr said. "Many of the town offices have a 'vote for two' situation such as a councilman or a 'vote for three' situation in the case of judges. What occurs is that the ballot position is drawn by luck -who gets the first column, second column, etc.-...Based upon the number of the ball that comes out gets the ballot position."
The lowest number wins.
Mohr said that in some cases the positioning of the ballot matters. In a case where there's more than two options in a "vote for two", Mohr said that there are some voters will simply select the first two columns and ignore the third column.
Election Day is November 5. Early voting begins October 26.
