Cattaraugus County Board of Elections Commissioners Kevin Burleson and Cortney Spittler have announced the 2020 General Election will be held on Tuesday November 3, 2020. Polls will be open from 6 AM to 9 PM in all election districts.
Voter registration forms must be postmarked no later than Oct. 9, 2020 and received by the Board of Elections no later than Oct. 14 2020 to be eligible to vote in the General Election. Applications may be made in person at the Board of Elections until Oct. 9, 2020. Voters, who were previously registered and have moved within the county, must submit an updated registration form by Oct. 14. Voter registration forms can be mailed at upon request from the Board of Elections office; applications may also be downloaded and printed the website at www.cattco.org/board-elections; or voters may register in person at 207 Rock City Street, Suite 100, Little Valley. Voter registration forms are also available at any local post office, county or state agencies, as well as from city, town or village clerks.
To apply for an absentee ballot a voter may be:
- Absent from their county on Election Day.
- Unable to appear at the polls due to temporary or permanent illness or disability (temporary illness includes being unable to appear due to risk of contracting or spreading a communicable disease like COVID-19).
- Unable to appear because they are the primary care giver of one or more individuals who are ill or physically disabled.
- A resident or patient of a Veterans Health Administration Hospital.
- Detained in jail awaiting Grand Jury action or confined in prison after conviction for an offense other than a felony.
Voters can apply for an absentee ballot electronically (through the absentee ballot application portal located on the NYS Board of Elections website), by sending an email request to the Board of Elections, by calling the Board of Elections to request over the phone, sending a fax request, applying in person at the Board of Elections or mailing an application to the Board of Elections. If the voter is applying by letter or email, the letter/email must contain the voter’s name and date of birth, the address at which he/she is registered, an address where the ballot should be mailed, and the reason for the request.
The deadline to apply online, postmark, email or fax a completed application or letter request for the General Election Absentee ballot is no later than 7 days (Oct. 27) before the election. Voters may apply in-person up to the day before the election (Nov. 2). An application may be filed at any time before the deadline. Ballots will be mailed the day after the request was received. Commissioners recommend that once a voter receives the ballot, that it be voted and returned to the Board of Elections as soon as possible. Voted ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020.
Early voting will be open in two locations in Cattaraugus County for 9 days, beginning Oct 24 and ending Nov. 1, 2020. Early voting locations are the Cattaraugus County Board of Election office and Jamestown Community College, Cutco Building. For complete addresses and times for each day of early voting please visit our website (Early Voting Sites and Times for the 2020 General Election). Any registered voter in Cattaraugus County is able to vote in person at the early voting center of their choice.
If the voter requests or casts and returns an absentee ballot, they may still go to the polls and vote in person. NYS Election Law recognizes that plans change. The Board of Elections is required to check the poll book before canvassing an absentee ballot. If a voter comes to the poll site on Election Day or during early voting and votes in person, the absentee ballot is set aside, unopened and not counted. A voter may not cast a vote during early voting and then again on Election Day.
Questions
Please contact the Board of Elections 716-938-2400 with your questions.
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