The Erie County Board of Elections is moving forward as if there will be an election on April 28, despite the uncertainty the coronavirus pandemic has caused.

The board said while most elections staff is on-call from home, they have been calling people in because the state moved the deadline to file petitions for the June election to Friday.

Meanwhile, village elections, the 27th Congressional District special election, and presidential primary are still scheduled for the end of next month.

Democratic Elections Commissioner Jeremy Zellner said if it happens, he's not sure exactly how the election will look, but it will be safe for staff and the public and everyone will get an opportunity to vote.

"There's a dedication to public service by many people," he said. "With that said, I think we're going to have to take our direction from the governor of whether he believes this is safe for us to conduct an election on April 28. I've got to tell you, I've watched all of his conferences. They give you a sense of calmness. His leadership has been tremendous during this time and I am very convinced that he will make the right decision on all of this coming up."

Zellner also said they haven't decided yet on how many early voting sites there will be should the election happen. The board has opened absentee voting to everyone.

The BOE downtown is open to the public Friday but Zellner asked people to take precautions like bringing their own pen.