MAYVILLE – A record number of absentee ballots counted in Chautauqua County changed the projected outcome of only one local race.
The Chautauqua County Board of Elections reported on Tuesday 10,750 absentee and affidavit ballots were accepted and counted, with only the outcome of one local race impacted.
In the race for Fredonia Village Trustee, Democrat EvaDawn Bashaw is now projected to defeat Republican John Sedota, who received 1,374 votes in election night and early voting to Bashaw’s 1,224 votes.
However, when counting absentee or affidavit ballots, Bashaw wins by 85 votes, 1,765 to 1,680.
Despite winning the absentee vote total, the numbers weren’t enough for Democrat Christina Cardinale to catch up to Assemblyman Andy Goodell’s 34,000 election night votes.
Between election night and early voting, Cardinale received 12,514 to Goodell’s 34,627. In absentee and affidavit votes, Cardinale received 5,325 to Goodell’s 4,961, not enough to win the race.
The final total between the two was 39,588 to 17,839, with Goodell the projected winner.
In the race for Chautauqua County Executive, both Democrat Richard Morrisroe and Republican PJ Wendel received similar numbers of absentee and affidavit votes.
Morrisore received 5,454 absentee votes to Wendel’s 5,108. However, absentee combined with Morrissroe’s election night total did not reach Wendel’s final vote count of 38,389 to Morrisroe’s 18,580.
Chautauqua County District Attorney Elect Jason Schmidt is still projected to win the race for DA.
He received 3,873 absentee and affidavit votes to Swanson’s 6,394 absentee and affidavit votes.
Schmidt had 29,925 votes from election night and early voting over Swanson’s 17,122 votes during that period. Overall, Schmidt beat Swanson with more than 10,000 votes, 33,798 to Swanson’s 23,516.
The Board of Elections reminds residents results are still considered unofficial until oversea ballots return. Those ballots are due to arrive no later than next Monday, officials say.
This year many communities saw an increase in absentee ballots because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
A full breakdown of all the races in Chautauqua County is posted below:
[pdf-embedder url=”http://new.wnynewsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Contest-Overview-11.10.20.pdf” title=”Contest Overview 11.10.20″]
The ballot breakdown may also be viewed by clicking here.
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