Polling locations opened for Election Day at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, but the Erie County voter registration office was preparing for the day earlier than that.
Workers were busy before the sun came up and even in the early hours they were in high spirits for the monumental day.
The voter registration office has been abuzz with pre-canvassing workers and watchers since 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
It's a process where the office oversees all absentee and mail-in ballots that they have received prior to 7 a.m. Tuesday.
They have been opening the ballots, laying them flat and scanning them.
"We've been pre-canvassing since 2020," said Tonia Fernandez, Erie County's director of elections. "We're not allowed to get started until 7 a.m., but we've got all the wheels in motion and it's going really well."
No one other than the workers are allowed in or out of the area however the process can be seen through the windows within the courthouse.
Pre-canvassing also speeds up the time it takes to get what everyone has been waiting for -- the results.
They will start to report and tally beginning at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Fernandez told us the office has already received more ballots than the last primary election.
"The last time I checked we were at around 33,000," Fernandez told us. "We're not going stop until we're done counting every ballot that was received."
"We are at 82% return rate for the mail ballots so that's outstanding. We had a real comeback to make and we're making it," said Karen Chillcott, Erie County clerk.
The office had a busy weekend with extended hours to make sure all voter complications with mail-in ballots were alleviated.
"We had maybe 1,000 to 1,100 people come in and get replacement ballots for their mail ballots," Chillcott added.
For those who have still not received their mail-in ballot, you can go to the polls and vote provisionally.
"If you come to the polling location prepared, it should be a quick and easy event," Fernandez said.
The office expects to have results for Erie County either late Tuesday or early Wednesday morning.