Candidates Wait On Absentee Ballots To Determine Victor In Several Races


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MAYVILLE – For a few races across Chautauqua County, absentee ballots will be the deciding factor in determining a victor, including in a race for Jamestown City Council. 

After tallying all of the ballots on election night, there is an 11-vote difference between Ward III Democratic Councilwoman Regina Brackman and Republican challenger Robert Reedy.





Election officials say 36 mail-in ballots were sent out to those voters, with 16 returned so far.

It’s not just Brackman and Reedy waiting on the ballots, but also the candidates for Chautauqua County Legislature District 1, Village of Fredonia Trustees and council races in Dunkirk.

As Election Commissioner Brian Abrams explains, all eyes are now on the absentee ballot counting process to determine a winner.





















“The process is going to take some time, and we’re painstakingly gathering not only absentees, but affidavits,” explained Abram. “It was 2,516 were sent out and as of right now 1,162 are back.”

By Friday, most of the mail-in absentee ballots are expected to arrive at the Board of Elections office in Mayville. However, Commissioner Luz Torres says they must have been filled out correctly and mailed in timely, in order for the vote to count.

“We check the postmark, we timestamp it, we receive all of the ballots, we timestamp all of them,” explained Torres.

The votes will be tallied nearly two weeks after election day and bring closure to several close races.









“We are trying to, and we are summarizing mathematically as of today what races would still be in place,” said Abram.

The Board of Elections will bipartisanly open the absentee ballots on Monday, November 15 at 11 a.m. in their Mayville offices. WNY News Now will be on hand for the process, which is open to the public, and provide coverage both on air and online at WNYNewsNow.com.

 

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