BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — With the early voting period for the 2024 election well underway, voters across the country are concerned about the election's security.
On Tuesday, I spoke with voters, election officials, and law enforcement in Erie County to see how the security and accuracy of the election are being handled locally.
"We haven't really had many problems in Erie County in respect to security," said Ralph Mohr, who has been the Republican Commissioner of The Erie County Board of Elections since 1993. "I spoke this morning to a Federal investigator and he confirmed to me that they haven't had any situation or inklings of threats or any kind of safety concerns going against the voters or the ballots of Erie County, so we feel very confident that that will continue."
"Internally we put a lot of time into elections," said Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia, who said he's been working through exercises with officers with a focus on polling locations. "We do some directed patrols and just make sure they are aware of what the addresses are, that way if a call does come out we already have guidance, our dispatchers have that guidance so we can prioritize those and do the best we can to get there."
"I've been voting for many many years, and I think every year they are pretty accurate with how they count to vote," said Erie County voter Kathleen Richards.
"It's not a concern for me. We've been doing this for a couple of hundred years, I have no concern," said Erie County voter George Thomakos.
"I have no concerns, I trust the Erie County process," said Erie County voter Anthony Cartone.
I also reached out to Erie County Sheriff John Garcia who provided the following statement on election security:
"All voters deserve a safe and secure setting in which to cast their ballot. Members of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office stand ready to respond to any type of overt threat to the integrity of our elections. We have been working, and will continue to work in conjunction with our federal, state and municipal partners up to, through and beyond Election Day. As the Sheriff of Erie County, I view this duty as an important part of our mission to provide quality public safety services to our community."
Anyone concerned with the election process is asked to contact law enforcement or one of the elections inspectors.
