BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) Turnout during the 2020 election cycle set a record in Erie County. Republican Election Commissioner Ralph Mohr says it will wind up between 75% and 80% of the electorate.
"It's a record setting year. I went back twenty years and we have exceeded the highest presidential turnout by over 35,000 votes so far," he said.
Mohr said "so far" because of all of the absentee ballots that are still coming in.
Absentee ballots are being accepted, as long as they were postmarked by November 3rd.
As of the close of business Wednesday, the Erie County Board of Elections had received over 82,000 absentee ballots.
According to the Erie County Board of Elections, 167,938 people cast ballots during early voting and election day voting.
Before this year, the highest turnout in Erie County came in 1996 when Bill Clinton beat Bob Dole. That year turn out was just over 72% of the electorate.
It's a good thing New York State is not being contested in the presidential election. Officials don't begin to count absentee ballots until two weeks after election day, November 17th. That's one of the longest "holds" in the country.
What do officials do with those ballots in the meantime? "We want to make sure that every person has a vote, but doesn't vote twice," said Mohr. "Under New York State law, even if someone had applied for and mailed-in an absentee ballot, someone could still show up at the polls on election day, in-person."
Mohr said the Board of Elections is in the process of making sure everyone who showed-up at the polls, did not also submit an absentee ballot.
If someone did vote twice, the absentee ballot is pulled. Elections inspectors are also qualifying provisional ballots from people who may have moved and their names did not show up on voter rolls. The Board of Elections has to confirm that they were eligible to vote.
