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Erie County reduces number of polling sites primaries due to few contested races

White voting booths with the American flag on them and the word "Vote" underneath it. Hanging from each booth, there are pamphlets that read "Look here. Voter Instructions and regulations."
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Erie County will drastically reduce the number of polling sites it operates in the 2024 primary elections due to the lack of a county-wide primary race and a sparse number of contested races

Erie County will drastically reduce the number of polling sites it operates in the 2024 primary elections due to the lack of a county-wide primary race and a sparse number of contested races, officials from the Erie County Board of Elections announced Monday.

The board of elections is cutting 19 early voting polling sites — a 50% reduction from the typical 38 — and 227 Primary Day polling sites — an approximately 75% reduction from the typical 301. The board of elections will only operate polling locations in communities and districts with primary races.

In a joint statement, Board of Elections Commissioners Ralph Mohr and Jeremy Zellner said the “significant cutback” was fiscally responsible given the lack of contested races, arguing that it “would produce meaningful savings” for county taxpayers.

A spokesperson for the Erie County Board of Elections did not immediately respond to a phone call from WBFO with follow-up questions.

While Erie County residents will be able to vote for a wide array of offices — ranging from U.S. president to town council — in November’s general election, most candidates won’t face a primary challenger.

Only one state legislator in all of Western New York, Republican Assemblymember David Dipietro, will have to run in a primary. He’s being challenged for his seat in the 147th Assembly District by Mitch Martin, a chief with the Erie County Sheriff’s Office and the chairman of the Town of Boston’s Republican Committee. The 147th Assembly District includes the towns of Alden, Aurora, Boston, Colden, Concord, Eden, Elma, Evans, Marilla, North Collins, Sardinia, Wales, and portions of Brant, Collins, and Orchard Park.

Primary races for the county’s U.S. congressmen and senators are also uncontested. Congressmen Tim Kennedy and Nick Langworthy, whose districts include parts of Erie County, are running unopposed in their respective primaries, as is U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

Former Grand Island Town Supervisor Nate McMurray had attempted to challenge Kennedy in the Democratic primary, but the New York State Board of Elections disqualified him after finding that 798 of the 1453 signatures on his petition for office were invalid, according to court documents. Kennedy had asked a State Supreme Court judge to keep McMurray off the ballot for the same issue.

The only member of Western New York’s congressional delegation facing a primary opponent is Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney, whose district stretches from eastern Niagara County to the Thousand Islands. She’s running against Mario Fratto, whom she beat in the 2022 primary.

Only three other positions — plus a wide variety of seats on political parties’ county committees — are up for election in Erie County’s primaries. They include:

· Republican and Conservative Party primaries for town justice in Collins

· A Republican primary for town justice in North Collins

· Democratic County Committee elections in Brant and parts of Buffalo

· Republican County Committee elections in Amherst, Elma, Grand Island, and parts of Buffalo

· Conservative County Committee elections in Amherst and Evans

New York State’s primary elections take place on Tuesday, June 25. Early voting runs from Saturday, June 15 to Sunday, June 23. Voters must be registered with a political party to participate. For more information, visit the Erie County Board of Elections’ website.