Saturday saw the first day of early voting in New York, and two Western New York counties confirmed a record number of ballots cast on opening day.
The Erie County Board of Elections reported 18,946 ballots were cast on day one of the early voting period, with the county’s Democratic office calling it “by far the strongest opening we’ve ever had” on X.
And in Genesee County, 1137 people cast their ballots Saturday - the highest number ever for an opening day according to Genesee County Democratic Election Commissioner, Lorie Longhany.
Speaking on day three of early voting Monday, Longhany said the number of early voters continued to be “brisk” and higher than the last Presential Election year in 2020.
“So far, I’m knocking on wood, everything has been going very smoothly. Our staff has been excellent, our voters have been courteous and we’re hoping this continues,” she said.
Orleans, Niagara, Chautauqua, and Allegany counties were able to confirm a higher number of voter submissions on the opening day compared to the same day in 2020.
That year, the country saw a large shift toward early voting and voting by mail in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Niagara County reported 5,141 ballots were cast Saturday alone - that’s more than the first two days of early voting combined in the county in 2020.
And Chautauqua County reported 2,610 ballots were cast Saturday - almost double that of day one in 2020 which saw 1,372 voter submissions.
Early voting in New York continues through Nov. 3. Election Day is Nov. 5.
