ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. (WIVB)–The talk of the hour is turnout.

Both pre-election day – and turnout at the polls today.

About 86% of people in Erie County who were sent an absentee ballot have returned it. There are 80,954 of those that have been returned.

Add that to the 168,000 people who voted early and you have nearly 250,000 Erie County residents who cast a ballot one of those two ways.

“Ya know, I’m very proud of the public. They stayed very very respectful to one another. They stayed respectful to our election workers. They’ve made their voices heard in a huge way,” Commissioner Jeremy Zellner said.

Commissioner Ralph Mohr added, “the enthusiasm that we’ve seen from voters standing in line, the enthusiasm that we have from voters, they’re calling the office and voting today shows that people are very interested in this race.”

Early voting results have already been reported by the Erie County Board of Elections – and those are reflected in the totals.

Right now -staff here is going through the ballots that were cast today. Absentee ballots in this county won’t be counted until the 17th.