Early voting got underway yesterday for the June 28th primary. The Board of Election in Erie County says just over 1-thousand people voted yesterday.
Poll hours are 12-9 weekdays and 9-5 on weekends.
"There are 38 sites in Erie County," said Republican Elections Commissioner
Ralph Mohr. "Anyone who is a registered voter can go to any of the 38 sites
in the county to cast their ballot through Sunday, June 26.
"Polling hours are 12-9pm weekdays. Weekend hours are from 9-5pm. You can view the 38 polling sites HERE.
There is one polling site located in every town and city in Erie County. In addition, there are ten sites located in the city of Buffalo.
The upcoming primary is for the governor's office on both the Democrat and Republican lines, the Erie County Clerk's race on the Democrat line, Town of Cheektowaga justice and local offices.
There will be a second primary August 23. That primary will be for
state senate and congressional races.
Early voting started several years ago and has caught on with local voters.
"It has been fairly popular," said Mohr. "Erie County has consistently had
either the highest or second highest turnout in the state. People enjoy the advantage of being able to vote early, plus the ability of going to any of 38 polling sites to cast a ballot."
If a voter is looking to file an absentee ballot for the primary, it's too late to request a ballot by mail for the June primary. You can, however, still come to the Erie County Board of Elections at 134 West Eagle Street in Buffalo, and request an absentee ballot. Once you receive it, you can drop it off at any one of the early voting polling places, or at any polling site on election day, June 28.
For anyone encountering a problem with early voting, or if you have a question, contact the Erie County Board of Elections HERE, or call 716-858-8891.
New York will hold another primary Aug. 23 for state Senate and U.S. House races. The primary election for those offices was delayed because of a legal fight over Democrats’ efforts to gerrymander new political district maps.
Those maps were ultimately thrown out by courts, which declared that they had been enacted improperly, and redrawn under a judge's supervision.
The state chapter of the League of Women Voters and a small group of Democrats and Republicans, sued by mid-May to delay the state Assembly primary. But their legal efforts floundered, with judges in several rulings saying it’s simply too late to delay the June primary.