BUFFALO, N.Y. — What a difference a year can make. In 2016, voter turnout was roughly 70 percent in Erie County.

"Last year, with the presidential election, you couldn't escape that election," Erie County GOP Chair Nick Langworthy said. "There were constant daily reminders of the candidates, what their messages of the day were. Everyone really lived that election for a year and a half."

This year, local party leaders are expecting the number to be much closer to 2015 when roughly a quarter of eligible voters made it to the polls.

"This is traditionally the lowest turnout year of a four-year cycle because the top of the ticket is sheriff and comptroller, versus county executive or governor or president," Langworthy said.

Erie County Democrats held a Get Out the Vote Rally Over the weekend.

"Until people realize that elections have consequences, then we're going to have an issue in this country but I think after last year, people see that," Dem Chair Jeremy Zellner said.

But the party is confident in the efforts. Zellner said they have had hundreds of volunteers knocking on doors and making calls.

"We've had people focused all across Buffalo and then mostly in the four districts that are contested for the legislature," he said.

Area labor unions have also been actively working to turnout voters for the past two months, turning up their efforts over the past few days.

"We do things like labor walks. We do some literature through the mail. Now we use social media and there is some phone calling although I've noticed that since social media has become more popular, there's less phone calling," WNY AFL-CIO President Richard Lipsitz said.

Although Democrats in Erie County hold a nearly 2-1 enrollment, a large portion come from Buffalo, where there is not a Republican candidate for this year's mayoral race. Zellner believes its part of an active effort by his counterparts to suppress votes, but he says they're focusing on the city regardless.

"I think the Republicans are counting their chickens before they hatched. They declared victory last week. Our candidates are working hard," he said.

Langworthy said it makes sense to focus on areas that could turn contested races toward his party.

"We can't take voter turnout for granted so we've had people out in the streets all weekend knocking on doors, trying to remind every last Republican voter that we can find to come on out and vote," he said.