A Chautauqua County election official says that up to three-quarters of all registered voters could be casting a ballot in this year’s election, more than two and a half times what it was a year ago.

On Monday, Republican Election Commissioner Brian Abram said about 33% of all registered voters in the county have already cast a ballot, either through voting by mail or through early voting.

According to Abram, 17,046 registered voters participated in early voting. In 2020, there were 14,279 ballots cast in early voting.

Abram credits the increase to familiarity with early voting.

“In 2020, early voting was very new. I think there were people who were apprehensive, and we had a COVID issue going on where I don’t think people were comfortable at that point,” he said.

With mail-in ballots, Abram said the county Board of Elections has mailed out 4,785 ballots. As of Monday afternoon, 3,935 ballots had been received. A mail-in ballot must be postmarked by Election Day to count in the election.

Combining mail-in ballots and early voting, Abram said about 21,000 people have already participated in this year’s elections in Chautauqua County.

He said the early voting this higher than he initially expected and he believes high turnout will continue Tuesday. “With the weather being good, I think that a whole bunch of people will still participate. If we’ve accommodated over 20,000 people, I think we’re looking at another 40,000 people on Election Day. … I think it will be around 70 to 75%,” he said.

In 2023, only 28% of registered voters cast their ballot, which was mainly local elections.

Abram credits the presidential race as the big draw.

“It’s the top of the ticket. I think everybody wants to have their opinion about who is going to be our next president. Every four years the numbers swell large and a lot of people participate,” he said.

In Cattaraugus County, early voting turnout this year was higher than it was four years ago as well.

The Cattaraugus County Board of Elections reports that in 2024, 6,473 voters participated in early voting compared to 6,173 in 2020.

Voting today is from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. across Chautauqua County.