LITTLE VALLEY — Early voting is coming next month in Cattaraugus County, where voters will have a choice of two locations: Little Valley and Olean.

The early voting sites are at the Board of Elections office in the old Little Valley Elementary School and at Jamestown Community College in the Magnano Room near Cutco Theater.

New voting equipment specifically for early voting is expected to be delivered by the end of the month, according to Cattaraugus County Republican Election Commissioner Cortney Spittler.

The new equipment includes enough electronic cellular tablets for all 55 election districts plus four scanners with enough memory of storing copies to store all 55 ballots, said Democratic Election Commissioner Kevin Burleson.

The early voting will be held over nine days starting 10 days before the Nov. 5 General Election — including two Saturdays and Sundays starting Oct. 25. Early voting ends Sunday, Nov. 3.

Early voters will sign in on the electronic tablets at the polling site. A ballot will be printed off for them and they will fill it out before placing the ballot in the scanner.

The local Board of Elections will be reminding voters of the early voting over the next few weeks, according to Burleson.

The new election equipment is expected to cost in the neighborhood of $200,000. New York State has granted $124,000 to meet the new early voting requirements.

The two early voting sites were chosen due to their locations being within 30 minutes away from most voters.

About 17,278 or 37% of voters live in districts that are 30 minutes from Little Valley or less and 25,743 or 58% of voters live in districts within 30 miles of Olean. About 21% or 9,248 voters will fall outside the actual 30-minute line, according to the election commissioners.

The state requires only one early voting site in each county.

Burleson said it’s not known how many people will take advantage of early voting. “We don’t know what the reaction will be here. Judging from the experience in other states, it will peak the first day, then level out until the last weekend. But we just don’t know.”

The big question is whether it will not only be more convenient for some voters, but result in more voters voting, Burleson agreed.

Burleson said workers with odd shifts will have the two weekends before the election to vote as well as different hours for five weekdays.

It can also help accommodate people who missed the absentee ballot application deadline, Spittler said.

On Nov. 5, voters will also sign in at their regular polling site using the electronic tablets, Burleson said. A backup paper file of voters in the election district will be available in the event of a power failure.

As soon as the new voting equipment is received, training sessions will begin for poll workers, Burleson said.

(Contact reporter Rick Miller at rmiller@oleantimesherald.com. Follow him on Twitter, @RMillerOTH)