All Democrats and Libertarians in the county, along with Busti Republicans, will vote for selected offices, including the Democratic Presidential Primary.

The primary elections are for 11 Democratic candidates who qualified for the New York statewide vote and some Democratic national convention delegate slates pledged to the candidates; a Busti Town Council Republican primary; and a countywide Libertarian race within the western New York 8th Judicial District.

Last month the Chautauqua County Board of Elections encouraged voters to vote by mail as a health precaution against the COVID-19 novel coronavirus. As a result, the board of elections sent out 26,469 absentee ballot applications to county Democrats, 211 applications to Libertarians and 2,316 applications to Busti Republicans so voters could skip traveling to the polls for the primary elections.

On-location voting for primary day will be available 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at all of the county poll sites.

For those who wanted to vote early but in person, early voting has also been underway since June 13 at the Mayville board of elections office. The Nov. 3 General Election will find expanded early voting available at the County Fair Grounds, Dunkirk and the Chautauqua Mall, Lakewood – as well as in Mayville.

All voters will be required to wear a protective mask and to observe social distancing, so as to protect poll workers and other voters. Complimentary facemasks will be given to voters who need one.

Anyone with a primary still wishing to vote by mail may call the Board of Elections at 716-753-4552 .

Voters wishing to view early voting and primary day results should visit votechautauqua.com  starting at 9 p.m. June 23.  However, since the majority of votes cast will be through the mail, absentees will not be added to the totals until the afternoon of June 30.

Vitale sent a signed letter to election officials on Monday stating:

It is with great regret that I am forced to notify you that I will not be an active candidate in the 2019 General Election race for Ward 2 Jamestown City Councilman. As you know, I previously filed paperwork to be the Democratic and Working Families parties candidate for this office. Now, due to unforeseen personal circumstances, I must announce that I withdraw my name as an active candidate for this office.

Vitale was going to challenge long-time Ward 2 incumbent and Republican Tony Dolce in the November General Election. With Vitale no longer being a candidate, Dolce will run unopposed in November. He has already been endorsed by the Conservative, Independence and Libertarian Parties.

In June Dolce ran a primary against Raven Mason Thompson for the Republican nomination and defeated her by 119 to 34 votes. Mason Thompson has since been tapped by the Libertarians to run for one of the three city council at large seats.

So far at least nine individuals have announced they would be seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for the 2018 General Election, with six of those individuals appearing in Jamestown last week to participate in Meet the Candidates forums on two separate occasions.

Those seeking the Democratic nomination include Linda Andrei (Ithaca), Max Della Pia (Owego), Rick Gallant (Corning), Ian Golden (Ithaca), Tracy Mitrano (Penn Yan), and Eddie Sundquist (Jamestown).  In addition Charles Whalen, James Clasby and John Hertzler have also said they would seek the party’s endorsement.

Candidates have to get at least 1,250 signatures from registered party members living within the district to get on the ballot. If a party member has signed a petition for a candidate, they are not allowed to sign the petition of another candidate. If that does take place, the signature with the the earlier date will count.

The dates to file designating petitions are April 9 to April 12.

If at least two of the candidates get the required number of signatures – which will most likely take place –  then a district-wide primary election will have to take place on Tuesday, June 26 to determine the party’s candidate.

Petitions can also be circulated for the other minor parties as well, such as the Working Families party, the Green Party, The Women’s Equality Party, the Independence Party, and the Conservative Party. For each of those parties, signatures from at least 5 percent of the district’s registered party enrollment total must be collected in order to have a name appear on the ballot.

Rep. Reed is seeking reelection to a fifth term in Congress and is not being challenged by any other Republican Party member.

The 23rd Congressional District covers 11 different counties and stretches from Chautauqua County in the west to Tompkins County in the east.

Norman Green

MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County Democratic Committee Chair Norman Green is blasting both the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns for failing to include Chautauqua County in its delegate selection process.

“We are the biggest county, with the biggest city and we have the biggest concentration of Democrats in the 23rd Congressional District,” said Green in a media release sent out on Wednesday. “Yet we have been shut out of the delegate selection process by the two campaigns.  I am disgusted.”

The State Democratic Presidential Primary (scheduled for April 19) will actually consist of a series of primaries held in each congressional district within the state. Chautauqua County is part of the 23rd Congressional District, which includes ten other counties (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Tompkins and Yates) along with parts of Ontario and Tioga counties.

Democratic voters will find two parts to the election.  First there will be the choosing between Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders as the Democratic choice for president in the 23rd Congressional District.

Second there will be a choice of delegates to send to the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

“The choice of delegates has absolutely no bearing on anything to do with the selection of a presidential candidate,” said Green. “Understand that every state in the United States conducts its selection process differently. In NYS we hold closed primaries which means only voters registered as Democrats may cast ballots in our NYS Democratic Primaries.  Our election process to determine how many delegates a candidate will be awarded is waged at the Congressional District level.  Delegates are awarded at the Congressional District level in proportion to the vote totals. We are not a winner take all state.”

“Unfortunately,” Green continued, “The delegate candidates listed on the 2016 Democratic primary ballot are all from the eastern end of the district and both presidential candidates chose delegate candidates mainly from Tompkins County.  It’s a big district and just a small area of the district is being represented for the delegate slate.”

All ten Sanders-Clinton delegate nominees reside on the eastern side of the district. Tompkins County is home to seven of the ten candidates including 125th NY Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick, and Tompkins County Democratic Chair Irene Stein – who are each pledged to Clinton.

Sanders’ Tompkins County delegate group includes activists Emily Adams, Mathew K. Ashford, Molly C. Grover and Donald Brazely.

Chemung County, directly and immediately south of Tompkins County, finds two delegate candidates of Mary D. Thorpe (pledged to Sanders) and Elmira pharmacist Bushra Sheikhs (pledged to Clinton).  Hornell Mayor Shawn Hogan (pledged to Clinton) of Steuben County rounds out the list.

“While the final candidate selection is decided by a complicated set of rules adopted by the State Democratic Committee, the simple explanation is that for each 20 percent of the vote Clinton or Sanders garners, they will earn one delegate from our Congressional District. Additionally, the five person delegate slate will absolutely consist of three females and two males,” explained Green.

Even though none of the candidates delegate nominees are from Chautauqua County, Green said there is a chance for some county Democrats to be selected as an at-large delegate.

“Not all is lost yet for a delegate coming out of Chautauqua County,” Green said. “The State Committee will meet on May 24 to choose the at-large delegates from our state and I am asking that they pick between long serving Jamestown mayor Sam Teresi, Dunkirk mayor Willie Rosas (the first elected Hispanic mayor in New York State history) , Fredonia Mayor Athanasia Landis (a Greek immigrant), Jamestown City Council President Greg Rabb, western New York’s first openly Gay elected official or one or more of our local labor leaders. I hope this inequity gets corrected.”

The four candidates for Chautauqua County Family Court Judge in the 2014 General Election will be (from left to right): Sally Jaroszynski (Democrat), Jeffrey Piazza (Republican, Conservative and Independence), James Spann Jr. (Working Families), and Michael Sullivan (Green Party).

JAMESTOWN – It appears that all four candidates for the recently created second Chautauqua County Family Court judge position will have their names on the ballot for the 2014 General Election.

Primary day 2014 saw contested races for six parties in the race for county court judge and each of the four candidates won at least one of the races.

In the Democratic Primary, Falconer’s Sally Jaroszynski defeated Westfield’s James J. Spann Jr. Jaroszynski had a strong showing, picking up over 60 percent of the vote.

In the Republican primary, Jamestown’s Jeffrey Piazza defeated Fredonia’s Michael Sullivan.  In that race, Piazza received 60 percent of the vote.

Piazza also won the Conservative and Independence Party lines. Meanwhile, Spann walked away from Primary Day with the Working Families Party endorsement while Sullivan will run on the Green Party line.

In the other local primary race, involving a special election for the Chautauqua County Legislature’s District 12 seat, Elisabeth Rankin won the Independence Party line vote in the narrowest of margins. Rankin picked up 19 votes while her opponent, current legislator Beth Kresge, picked up 18 votes. Rankin will also run on the Republican line while Kresge will serve have the Democratic and Working Familes endorsements.

Election day will take place on Nov. 4. For a complete list of all candidates appearing on Chautauqua County ballots for this year’s elections, visit voteChautauqua.com.

Highlighting this year’s primary is the race for governor and lieutenant governor for the Democratic party, with three candidates on the ballot for governor and two candidates on the ballot for lt. governor.

• COMPLETE LIST OF CANDIDATES ON THIS YEAR’S LOCAL BALLOTS

THREE VIE FOR DEMOCRATIC ENDORSEMENT IN GOVERNOR’S RACE

In the governor’s race, incumbent Andrew Cuomo (Kisco, NY) will facing upstart challenger Zephyr Teachout (Brooklyn, NY) and fellow challenger Randy Credico (New York, NY). Teachout is a Fordham University professor who’s garnered a lot of attention after winning a court decision that would allow her name to remain on the ballot following a challenge by Cuomo’s campaign. Credico is a Comedian and considered a long-shot candidate.

In the Democratic Primary race for Lt. Governor, Kathy Hochul of Erie County has been tapped to be governor’s Cuomo’s running mate, replacing current lt. Gov. Robert Duffy of Rochester, who announced earlier this year he would not be seeking a second term as lt. governor Hochul is running against fellow democrat and Teachout running mate Timothy Wu.

FAMILY COURT JUDGE RACES HIGHLIGHTS LOCAL PRIMARIES

In addition to the democratic primary for governor, there will also be six party primaries in the newly created office for a second Chautauqua County Family Court Judge. A total of four candidates will have their names on the ballot, with all of them vying for at least one of the six party endorsement.

In the Democratic Party primary for that office, Falconer attorney Sally Jaroszynski, who is currently Ellicott Town Justice, will be facing Westfield attorney James Spann Jr. – who currently serves as the Westfield town justice.

For the Republican Party, Jamestown attorney Jeffry Piazza will be running against Fredonia Mayor and attorney Michael Sullivan.

In addition, Piazza, Sullivan and Spann will be competing for the endorsement of the Conservative Party.

Both Spann and Sullivan are candidates for the Working Families Party.

For the Independence Party, Piazza, Spann and Sullivan are all running for endorsement.

And for the Green Party, Spann and Sullivan are running for endorsement.

DISTRICT 12 SPECIAL ELECTION TO FEATURE INDEPENDENCE PARTY PRIMARY

There is also a primary for Jamestown residents who live in district 12 for the Chautauqua County Legislature. That seat is having a special election in November, since current legislator and Democrat Beth Kresge was only appointed to the seat earlier this year. She’ll be facing Jamestown Republican Elisabeth Rankin in the November general election. However, both candidates are also vying for the Independence Party endorsement on primary day – meaning any registered members of the independence party that live in District 12 will have the opportunity to vote for one of the two.

Primary day is on Tuesday, Sept. 9. All Chautauqua County poll sites will be open from Noon to 9 p.m.  Voters can find their personal voter information at www.votechautauqua.com.