Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The special election to determine New York's next Congressman representing the 26th Congressional district is set for Tuesday, April 30, with early voting starting this Saturday.
"With all the crisis in the Middle East and all the things that are happening at a national level, it's very important that the people of the 26th congressional district are represented in Washington," notes Ralph Mohr, Republican Commissioner for Erie County Board of Elections.
"It's a very important race," says Jeremy Zellner. Erie County Board of Elections' Democratic Commissioner. "It's determining who the next congressman is in our district here, in the heart of our community. So I hope that it energizes folks to come out and vote."
New York State Senator Tim Kennedy (D) is running against West Seneca Supervisor Gary Dickson (R) to fill the NY-26 congressional position that has been left vacant for more than two months.
Former Congressman Brian Higgins officially resigned from the position in February to take a position as Shea's Buffalo President and CEO.
Zellner reminds the public that there are many ways to vote.
"They can vote early from the 20th through the 28th [of April]. Polls are open noon to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. We have the vote early by mail option, they can go to our website, elections.erie.gov, and they can get a ballot to vote from home, or they can vote on Election Day, April 30th."
Mohr also adds that New York's 26th congressional district also covers Niagara County, which is why it's important to know your district.
You can find a link to the early voting schedule for Niagara County residents here.
Mohr says there's a special election is "special" in terms of one particular aspect.
"We've had a number of elections from village elections to presidential primary preference, but the one big difference is that in this special election, it doesn't matter what your affiliation is, if you are a registered voter in the 26th congressional district, you are eligible to vote - it is not closed to parties."
Zellner, who is also the chair of the Erie County Democratic Committee, notes that it's hard to get people out to vote in the month of April, but he is confident that Sen. Kennedy's aggressive awareness strategy is what's going to give him the victory.
"We're working hard. It's difficult to mobilize folks, particularly since we just had the presidential primary on April 2 as well. So some folks may be confused, but the Senator has worked awfully hard to have great television commercials, a great mail plan. We're doing door knocking, we're making phone calls. So we expect a big victory on April 30."