Today is Election Day across the United States.

Early votes cast this year in Chautauqua County are slightly ahead of what they were two years ago.

According to county Republican Election Commissioner Nacole Ellis, a total of 3,939 votes were cast during early voting, which ran from Oct. 25 to Nov. 2.

This year there are no federal or state offices up for a vote. 2024 was the last presidential race and 2022 was the last gubernatorial race in New York.

Like this year, 2023 was primarily local elections only. That year, 3,588 votes were cast during early voting.

Both those early totals fall far short when the president or governor is on the ticket. In 2024, 17,046 voters cast a ballot during early voting, while in 2022 early voting had 7,064 votes cast.

In 2023, both the cities of Dunkirk and Jamestown had mayoral races. This year, the county executive race heads the ticket countywide.

The number of local candidates from two years ago is down.

In 2023, 11 of the 19 county legislative seats were competitive. This year, eight of the 19 legislative seats are competitive. The winner of each race will only serve one year, due to the state moving the majority of local races to even years, including most towns and county officials.

In 2023, there were 15 local municipalities with a competitive race. This year, there are 12 municipalities that have a competitive race on the ballot. This does not include write-in campaigns.

Countywide, there are a total of 80,033 active voters who are registered to participate in the upcoming General Election. Polls will be open today from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. across the county.

Ellis said previously that they were predicting a 35% voter turnout in Chautauqua County.