BUFFALO (WBEN) - Tuesday marks the fourth day of the early voting period in New York State, and Erie County residents continue to flock to polling locations to have their voices heard prior to the November 3 Election Day.
Congressman Brian Higgins, State Assemblywoman Monica Wallace and Democratic Erie County Board of Elections Commissioner Jeremy Zellner held a press conference at the Cheektowaga Senior Center Tuesday afternoon to encourage people to continue utilizing the early voting period.
"Thus far, about 62 million Americans have voted early, and we anticipate that number will increase significantly over the next several days," said Higgins. "The last Presidential Election, 2016, 47 million people voted early."
According to Zellner, nearly one-fifth of the county's electorate has already voted.
"We had 20,000 last night vote in Erie County alone," said Zellner. "We're at about 48,000 voters that have voted for early voting this year, and with out absentees that are in hand...we're at about a 17% turnout as we stand today, which is a tremendous thing for this community."
However, something that Erie County residents aren't used to has come along with the larger than normal turnout - lines. The photo above shows what the line looked like at the Cheektowaga Senior Center at about 1:15 Tuesday afternoon.
"We're kind of in the second year of this, so we're also experimenting and also trying to figure out some other best practices," Zellner said. "Not all of our sites are really terrific for early voting especially in the middle of a global pandemic, but we have to do what we have to do right now, and I think if you've talked to any who has early voted, they've had a good experience. Whether they waited for a long time or not, they got their voice heard, which is what we've been hearing over and over again."
When asked if the long lines during the early voting period causes any concern for next Tuesday's election, Zellner essentially said that the amazing turnout during early voting, combined with an increase in polling sites on Election Day, is actually causing less worry.
"There's never been lines in Erie County for any election, really," he said. "Given that we've has such a big turnout, I think that's less of a possibility than it would have been anyway."
