As of early Friday afternoon, 5,983 people in Erie County had voted in this year's primary election since the early voting period opened last Saturday.
Except for Sunday, which was slow, about 1,000 people have voted each day in Erie County, and a little under 100 people a day in Niagara County.
Those numbers are roughly on pace for what election officials expected, although this is the first time early voting has been used in a June primary where only local offices are being contested.
"It's about what I would think turnout would be this year for a primary that is limited to people enrolled in those parties," said Jeremy Zellner, Erie County Democratic election commissioner. "It seems to be leveling at about 1,000 people a day."
The total already is more than the number of early votes cast in Erie County during the entire nine-day early voting period last June, but the June 2020 primaries are in no way comparable to this year's.
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In 2020, the primary for local and state offices was held simultaneously with a Democratic presidential primary, and a special election and Republican primary in the 27th Congressional District.
And because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo last year ordered absentee ballot applications mailed to everyone, which meant for many, there was no need to vote early. That didn't happen this year.
So if 2020 was an election like no other, so far 2021 is an election like all the others.
“That’s apples and oranges," Zellner said. "We judge elections on cycles, and this cycle is showing it’s pretty much the same as all the other cycles."
One example might be the Democratic primary for mayor of Buffalo. Mayor Byron W. Brown, seeking his record fifth term, faces two challengers, India B. Walton and Le'Candice M. Durham.
As of 2 p.m. Friday, 1,856 Buffalo residents had voted, counting all parties.
In 2017, when Brown won a primary over Mark J.F. Schroeder and Betty Jean Grant, only 25% of Buffalo Democrats took part. "It’s probably going to be short of that in this race," Zellner predicted.
And, Zellner noted, in 2017, the primary still was held in September. This is the third year of the June primary.
"I'm hearing a lot of positive things about the convenience of having this early voting. I think it's helping a lot of people be able to get to the polls," Zellner said. "If people want to make their voices heard in person, they can always do it instead of being forced to get an absentee ballot."
Countywide primaries in both major parties for Erie County sheriff might drive turnout this time – or not.
"Then you have only a couple of really contested races happening in the suburbs, in Evans and Hamburg," Zellner said. "Those are the two towns that have localized primaries that are really active right now. Those are the only areas that are showing a little bump in turnout.”
As of mid-afternoon Friday, 613 Hamburg residents and 302 Evans residents had voted since early voting began last Saturday.
In Niagara County, where the featured races are multiparty primaries for county judge and Niagara Falls city judge, voters haven't exacted stampeded to the polls. Through the first six days of early voting, 560 ballots were cast in Niagara County. That's slightly less than the 574 votes cast in the first six days last June, according to the Niagara County Board of Elections.
"It's a local election primary with very few races. I think turnout was expected to be low," said Jennifer M. Sandonato, the county's Republican election commissioner. "We're seeing an extremely low turnout throughout the entire state for early voting."
Through the first six days of early voting, 22,349 votes had been cast in the entire state outside New York City. Erie County's total was the largest.
“I don’t know of any complaints we’ve had here," Zellner said. "There’s more opportunity than ever for people to cast their votes. If they don’t want to go in person because of the pandemic or whatever reason, they can take five minutes online and get a ballot mailed to them. If they want to vote early, they have nine days to go anywhere in the county."
Erie County offers 37 sites, one in every Buffalo Council district and one in every other city and town, plus the main Board of Elections office in downtown Buffalo. Niagara County has two sites, in Lockport and Niagara Falls.
In Erie County, polling hours are noon to 6 on Saturday and Sunday. In Niagara County, it's 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
And on Tuesday, primary day itself, all the usual polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
