Amherst residents cast ballots as toll in Erie County reaches over 293K

AMHERST, N.Y. (WIVB) — A constant stream of voters are coming to the polls in Amherst since they opened Tuesday morning. As of 4:30 p.m., the Erie County Board of Elections said over 293,000 people have cast their ballots so far and those numbers continue to climb.

A line of nearly 100 voters greeted the poll worker who opened the doors of the Clearfield Community Center at 6 a.m. Since then, the turnout has been remained steady.

WIVB News 4 heard from voters throughout the morning from both sides of the political aisle and asked with two other voting options — absentee ballots and early voting — why they decided they wanted to cast their ballot on Election Day.

“I guess we’re older and more traditional and I always voted on Election Day and I believe that’s the way it should be done,” said Williamsville voters Firman and Pat Lawrence.

“I wanted to wait and do it on Election Day because last time the early voting was just ridiculous waiting in line and then actual Election Day nobody was there, so I figured I wouldn’t make that same mistake and just wait in line,” said Amherst voter Frank Coloprisco.

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“I wanted him to see the real experience on Election Day so I made sure we waited until today to come,” said Lynn and Anthony Thomas, voters from Amherst.

News 4 has heard some concerns come into the newsroom about ballot box jams happening at the polls.

The Erie County Board of Elections said they have experienced some ballot jams in a few places, but that they have seen nothing out of the ordinary, adding that there are procedures in place to make sure every eligible ballot cast is counted.

They also explained that if a ballot does get jammed, they will put it into an emergency bin and will make sure it’s counted by the end of the day.

The polls will be open until 9 p.m. Tuesday.

You can check your registered polling site on your county’s board of elections website.

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Hope Winter is a reporter and multimedia journalist who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here.

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