Any registered or pre-registered Democrat or Republican over age 16 is eligible to work, as long as they are able to read and write English and have passed an election inspector training course.

The election work day is 5 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and the pay is the hourly $11.80 minimum wage.

Visit www.VoteChautauqua.com to sign up for election inspector training.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) says he supports the decision by the FBI to reopon its investigation into Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Last Friday FBI Director James Comey sent Congress a brief letter about emails that may or may not be new or relevant to the previously concluded investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server.

In the letter, Comey stated that he was obligated to update Congress because he had testified in July that the investigation was complete.

Congressman Reed told WRFA during a media conference call on Monday that he agrees with reopening the investigation, adding that the election shouldn’t have been a factor in deciding whether or not to move forward.

“The timing of it, to me, is not relevant to the political process,” Reed said. “This came as a result of a secondary investigation, that’s my understand. What the FBI director is doing is what the FBI director should do – and that’s when the evidence calls for additional investigations to occur, you need to demonstrate that no one is above the law, including Hillary Clinton. And he, as the FBI director, will get to the bottom of it with his organization.”

FBI Director James Comey

Comey’s announcement on Friday, less than two weeks before Election Day, rattled the Clinton campaign and helped Republican candidate Donald Trump gain ground in the polls.

Since then, the Clinton Campaign has criticized Comey, saying it was premature for him to publicly say he is reopening the investigation because he knew nothing about the substance of the newly discovered emails, which were found during a separate investigation of a computer belonging to Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of one of Clinton’s closest aides.

The Justice Department and F.B.I. are now working to process hundreds of thousands of emails to determine whether there is anything relevant in them before Nov. 8.

The election office is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Also, the board will be open extended hours until 7 p.m. this Wednesday and this Saturday Nov. 5th 9 a.m. to Noon.

To be eligible for an absentee ballot, a voter must plan to be out of town on Election Day.  Voters who have a permanent or temporary physical disability or who are a care giver to a voter with a physical disability, can also apply for an absentee ballot.

Questions can be directed to the Board of Elections by calling 753-4580 or by e-mailing vote@co.chautauqua.ny.us

Jamestown’s only community radio station will be providing frequent updates via social media on the various federal, state, and local races that are taking place. In addition, WRFA will broadcast special news updates at 9 p.m., 10 p.m., and 11 p.m. that night.

A complete recap of all election results will also be provided during the WRFA Morning News Update (7 a.m., 8 a.m., and 9 a.m.) on Wednesday, Nov. 9.

MEET THE CANDIDATES

Also, in advance of Election Day, WRFA will feature interviews and discussions from various candidates during its public affairs program Community Matters (Thursdays at 5 p.m.) on both Oct. 27 and Nov. 3.

You can also find a complete listing of all major offices up for election in our listening area at our Election 2016 web page.

Offices up for a vote in the 2016 election include U.S. President and Vice President, U.S. Senate, House of Representatives, State Senate, State Assembly, New York Supreme Court, Chautauqua County District Attorney, and Chautauqua County Family Court Judges. There are also several town and village offices up for election.

WRFA broadcasts locally in the Jamestown community at 107.9 FM. The station also offers a live broadcast stream via its free mobile app or online at its website, WRFALP.com/Streaming. WRFA can be found on Facebook at Facebook.com/WRFALP and on Twitter at Twitter.com/WRFARadio.

Inspectors work at 51 different poll sites in the county and provide assistance to the public as needed during the voting process.  Inspectors are assigned to polling sites in bi-partisan teams and are required to attend training before appointment.

Inspectors must be available to work on Election Day from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m or short fill-in shifts as necessary. Staff are paid $8.80 per hour, plus $25 to attend training.

Registered Democrats or Republicans are invited to attend one of the election inspector training classes at Jamestown Community College Main Campus, 525 Falconer St. in the Katherine Jackson Carnahan Center on Thursday, September 24th from  3 to 5 p.m.; or at the Gerace Office Building, 3 N. Erie St., Mayville, on Wednesday, October 7^th from 5 to 7 p.m.

Questions can be directed to the Board of Elections at 753-4580.

The Board of Elections, 7 North Erie St., Mayville, is usually open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  In addition, the office will have 9 a.m. to Noon hours the next two Saturdays – Oct. 25th and Nov. 1st – and will remain open until 7 p.m. Tuesdays Oct. 21st and 28th and Wednesdays Oct. 22nd and 29th.

To Qualify for an absentee ballot, a registered voter must be:

• Absent from the county on Election Day;
• Unable to appear at the polls due to temporary or permanent illness or disability; or due to being a primary care giver of one or more individuals who are ill or physically disabled;
• Detained in jail awaiting Grand Jury action or confined in prison after conviction for an offense other than a felony.

Information and absentee ballot applications are available at www.votechautauqua.com or by calling 753-4580.

Andy Goodell

MAYVILLE – New York State Assemblyman Andy Goodell (R-Jamestown) will be heading back to Albany in January to represent the 150^th Assembly district. The incumbent easily defeated democratic challenger Dr. Rudy Mueller (D-Lakewood) by 10,000 votes. According to votechautauqua.com, Goodell unofficially received 28,810 votes – or 61 percent of the electorate. The total does not reflect absentee ballots.

Senator Cathy Young (R-Olean) will also be returning to Albany. She won a fourth consecutive full term in Albany, running unopposed. Young was first elected to the Senate in a special election in 2005 following the death of Pat McGee. She was elected to her first, full term in office in 2006.

In the Race for Chautauqua County Judge, incumbent Republican John Ward easily won reelection to a third consecutive term, defeating Democratic challenger William Coughlin. Ward received nearly 30,000 votes to Coughlin’s 17,000 – giving him a margin of victory of over 25 percent.

The only two other contested local races took place in to nearby towns. In the race for Carroll Town Council, Democrat Patty Ekstrom defeated republican Harold Whitford.  In the race for Busti Town Council, Todd Hanson ( R) defeated Bill Burk (D).

A complete rundown of all local elections can be found online at votechautauqua.com.

It wasn’t smooth sailing on election day for many areas of the country. CNN and other news outlets were reporting that Long lines and sporadic problems with voting machines caused snags in some key states. Voters waited for up to four hours in Virginia and three hours in some parts of south Florida, leading some to walk away before casting a ballot

Several complaints came out of Pennsylvania, including two cases in which a voting machine had to be recalibrated after voters complained that it incorrectly displayed their vote for president.