“I am concerned by the news reported on local news outlets that there has already been a removal and destruction of mail machines in the Buffalo and Rochester mail facilities that sort and distribute mail in Erie County.  Nationally, we have started to see the Trump administration’s assault on the United States Postal Service playing out with rotten food, dead animals, missing pharmaceutical shipments to veterans and delayed packages, but my main concern as an elected official is maintaining the integrity and order of our local elections. 

Last year, the Erie County Legislature heard from Commissioners Mohr and Zellner during our annual budget hearings regarding their plans for a concise and well-coordinated early voting plan.  In the City of Buffalo alone, we had ten early voting centers open for ten full days prior to Election Day 2019.  The Legislature approved $1 million in the 2020 Erie County budget to help make sure that our 2020 elections process would be fair and equitable to all. 

The success and ease experienced during the 2019 round of early voting in Erie County, which had the most sites of any county in New York State, should be a lesson to all in these tough times – we need to preserve access to the polls and ensure voting opportunities are maintained. 

Today, I am requesting an update from the Board of Elections regarding their conversations and communications with the United States Postal Service to ensure that (1) we will not have problems timely delivering absentee or mail-in ballots to those who request them and (2) there will not be any problems or delays with the Postal Service returning those ballots to the Board of Elections for tabulation.  The integrity of the electoral process, which maintains the vitality of our democracy, must not be compromised for any political agenda.  I am confident our elections commissioners will work diligently and transparently to ensure the system remains robust and fair.” 

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