If you're an eligible voter and you haven't already, the Erie County Board of Elections said you should soon receive an application for an absentee ballot in the mail.


What You Need To Know

  • Absentee ballot applications have been sent out
  • You can apply by mail or online
  • Board of Elections is encouraging everybody to absentee vote this year

The board is encouraging people to take advantage of absentee voting in June.

"They simply need to fill out the form, cut it, postcard and put it right back in the mail. It's all self-addressed. It's all self-stamped," Democratic Elections Commissioner Jeremy Zellner said.

The BOE recently sent out nearly 400,000 applications for absentee ballots. They'll arrive in an envelope.

"It's pretty hard to miss and just watch your mail," Zellner said.

He said people don't need to wait for the application or even walk to a mailbox to send it back. Everything is available at the website: elections.erie.gov.

"Every system right now is being strained to the max and what we're trying to do is tell people, ’Look, help us out. Sign up online. It's secure. It's safe. You can vote at your kitchen table.’ That is the safest way for our workers, for our elections inspectors and for the public to vote this year," Zellner said.

The commissioner said while the process is easy for voters, it was taxing for the board. The governor issued an executive order requiring all eligible voters receive an application, so counties across the state were competing to obtain things like envelopes and get printing done.

"We just really pounded them out and got them out," he said. "It was tough work but our staff did a great job."

About 22,000 people have already applied and the board is hoping to have those ballots out by the end of next week.

Depending on party affiliation and district, some people could be receiving as many as three ballots, for local elections, the congressional special election and the Democratic presidential primary. A person only has to apply once though.

"If you're a Democrat, say in Hamburg, and you request an absentee or you go to the polls, you're going to have to vote three times if you want to get your fill," Zellner said.

While the board said absentees are preferable because of the coronavirus pandemic, it is still working on a plan to run early voting and Election Day voting sites in accordance with the law. It is working to train inspectors and recruit more inspectors and greeters for the sites.

All that current information is also available on the website.