Marcus Buchanan

Election charges against a sitting elected county official are being suspended and will likely be dropped.

In July, Marcus Buchanan, who was 56, was charged with illegal voting for allegedly violating the State Election Law pertaining to the use of absentee ballots during the 2023 election cycle.

A Dunkirk resident, Buchanan was accused of going around the city, registering voters and at the same time getting them to apply for an absentee ballot.

Buchanan is the Chautauqua County Legislator for District 1 which encompasses part of the city and the west town of Dunkirk.

In 2023, Buchanan, a Democrat, defeated incumbent Republican Kevin Muldowney. The race went down to absentee ballots.

He is running unopposed for re-election.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt, who is a Republican, announced on Monday that he has taken steps to conclude the case “with a certain disposition available under the law providing for a suspension of all prosecution activities and an adjournment of the case for a period of six months after which the charges will be dismissed and associated court record sealed, provided that Mr. Buchanan does not allegedly violate any misdemeanor or felony laws including criminal Election Law statutes within that timeframe.”

Schmidt noted the charges were made after a lengthy period of investigation “which in part required a comprehensive review and understanding of comparatively complex and unfamiliar Election Law prescriptions, including relatively new state-wide Election Law procedures authorizing mail-in and/or early voting options, and the recent implementation of these newly-available options by voters and lay person candidates who are not necessarily sufficiently knowledgeable in the precise parameters of their permitted conduct when they engage in campaign and/or voter-related activities.”