Quick election results thanks to technology and volunteers
The Erie County Elections office was able to count all of its mail-in ballots in a quick and effective manner. This means we got results the night of the election.
The Erie County clerk said that the fast ballot counting is thanks to some new equipment they received with a state grant and help from many volunteers.
Election night saw results come in on election night in Erie County. The Erie County clerk of elections said there are two things to thank for that: technology and volunteers.
The county recently acquired two ballot extractors from a state election integrity grant that drastically sped up the process of sorting through ballots from their envelopes.
How does this election compare to previous ones?
“I can definitely speak for obviously the primary election, my first election here, and it was a little challenging because again we did not have these ballot extractors. These ballot extractors, of course, provided us with the opportunity to add more integrity but speed up the process. We are so thankful for those,” said Julie Slomski, Erie County clerk of elections.
She said their team of pre-canvassers was able to open the first ballot at 7 a.m. Normally they have a team of about 12 people opening and counting ballots as part of the pre-canvassing process. This year they had 60.
“I can’t brag enough about the team that we have here. The team in our office staff now, the team of the pre-canvassers and of course our poll workers. Thanks to our great turnout yesterday, it was everyone working together, and we are so thankful for that,” Slomski added.
Why is it important to have election results in a quick and effective manner?
“Everyone is getting excited. It was a long campaign season for everyone, from watching from the couch or helping out in a campaign or working here in the office like us. We feel that if you cast your vote, our duty is to make sure you get those results as quickly as possible,” said Slomski.
Slomski said they are still busy going through the bags that the judge of elections has returned from all their precincts.
Gloss