New mail vote counting rules for Election Day approved for Erie County. What's changed

Political parties and candidates in Erie County have historically had representatives stand inside the elections office on Election Day to watch the opening and counting of mail-in ballots.

That won’t be the case in the upcoming Nov. 5 election.

On Thursday, the Erie County Board of Elections, citing safety and security reasons, approved new guidelines for observing the pre-canvassing and canvassing of mail ballots at the elections office, located in the Erie County Courthouse.

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Election monitors will watch outside office

No longer will party or candidate representatives be allowed inside the elections office. Rather, they’ll observe the process ― the opening, folding, scanning and tabulation of mail ballots ― from the hallway via three newly installed windows.

The windows provide a clear view of the so-called “fishbowl,” the area inside the elections office where the mail ballots are tabulated.

The fishbowl will also be live-streamed on Election Day and allow representatives, as well as the media and other interested electors, to view the canvassing process via a large monitor in the County Council caucus room or Room 114.

The Board of Elections approved the changes in a 7-0 vote.

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Why were election monitoring changes made?

Erie County Clerk Karen Chillcott said the changes were needed for two reasons: security and space.

Chillcott said a team from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did an on-site assessment of the elections office in June. One of their recommendations was that no member of the public should be in the same space where ballots are canvassed.

To accomplish this, the elections office, in addition to the viewing windows, set up a customer service window at its entrance and implemented badge-only access into the canvassing area.

Chillcott said the goal was to create a “balance of transparency and security,” a goal echoed by Election Board Chairman Andre Horton.

“I’m a strong advocate of keeping our staff safe and un-intimidated,” he said.

Chillcott added that equipment inside the elections office was taking up substantial space and made it difficult, at times, for election staff to move around.

“The problem is we have more mail ballots than normal and we have less and less room due to the equipment," she said. “Introducing more people into this situation on Election Day … we were concerned there wasn't enough space."

How many election monitors can show up?

Each candidate and each political party is permitted one authorized representative.

The representatives can observe the opening of envelopes containing official absentee and mail-in ballots at the pre-canvass meeting; observe the counting and recording of absentee and mail-in ballots at the canvass meeting; and observe determinations regarding provisional ballots.

Representatives cannot challenge an absentee or mail-in ballot application after 5 p.m. on the Friday prior to the day of the election. They also cannot engage in, attempt to intimidate, or interfere with the pre-canvass or canvass of the absentee and mail-in ballots, according to approved guidelines.

Chillcott said representatives with questions or concerns on Election Day can go to the customer service window at the entrance of the elections office.

Election officials are allowed to start pre-canvassing mail-in ballots at 7 a.m. on Election Day.

A.J. Rao can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @ETNRao.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Election observer rules for mail ballots OK'd for Erie County