MAYVILLE - The Chautauqua County Board of Elections will be providing voting services to Bemus Point, Cassadaga Valley and Ripley Central Schools for the Tuesday, May 15, school district elections.
The Board of Elections will have optical scan paper ballot voting machines delivered to the schools and supervised by trained election personnel for voting. Hours for the these three school elections are 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. for Cassadaga Valley and Ripley and 2 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. for Bemus Point. The elections will be conducted under the direct supervision of each school's district clerk.
Earlier this month, the Board of Elections designed and printed absentee ballots for the three schools. Military voters for these schools have had exclusive access to the federal Military and Overseas Voter (MOVE) website where they are able to print ballots and vote by mail for this year's elections.
"As a veteran myself, I remember how important every election was to me when I was serving in the U.S. Army in Germany," said Democratic Election Commissioner Norman P. Green. "I'm very happy that as an Election Commissioner I am now a part of the process of enfranchising our military voters via the MOVE website for military and overseas voters who have officials residences in the Cassadaga Valley, Ripley and Bemus Point school districts. These military voters and would not normally be able to vote due to the school district's extremely short New York state vote by mail deadlines."
The Board of Elections also provides lists for all county school districts mailing absentee ballots to all school voters who are on the county's permanent list of those who are physically unable to vote or who are in the military. Additionally, the sign in sheets for the two small city schools of Jamestown and Dunkirk are compiled by the Board of Elections. State law states that all voters qualified to vote by the county are also qualified to vote in the all school elections. However, all Election Day voting eligibility questions are up to the county's district school clerks to determine. All special needs voters will also be able to vote without assistance at the three school elections serviced by the county.
"The Board of Elections is enjoying a great relationship with the three school we are servicing for this election," said Republican Election Commissioner Brian C. Abram.
For the voters from these three districts, they can review their ballot prior to the election and obtain results at the close of polls on election night by visiting www.votechautauqua.com. For more information on the county election board's role in school elections, call 753-4580.
