Now that the primary election is in the books, Erie County election officials told us what they saw Tuesday night.

Julie Slomski, the Erie County Clerk, said that last night there was a low turnout for voters but high turnout for mail-in ballots.

The elections office received 77 percent of mail-in ballots back and 16 percent at the polls, with a combined overall 24 percent. The board of elections did a soft launch of their new electronic poll pads that were designed to remove human error while checking in.

Instead of having multiple registration tables, the idea was to have one table serve as four lines. Slomski said that she received great feedback regarding the poll pads, and she believes that the primaries are just as important as any other election.

“You can vote for your neighbor, that person you see in the grocery store, and can bend their ear about their taxes up or what have you. The person you see at a restaurant what have you, you’re voting for people that you know,” Slomski said.

Slomski said that the primary elections gives people the time to do research for the general.