With Election Day just four weeks away, Tuesday was a busy day at the Erie County Elections Office.
"It's all hands on deck here," said Election Director Tonia Fernandez. "We're all laser focused on getting everything correct."
Workers spent the day running test ballots through machines, making sure equipment is ready to go for May's primaries. 
"We want to make sure that we get this process right for the voters in Erie County, so these little checks and balances and going through policy and procedure prior to the election is extremely important," said Election Board Chair Charlie Bayle.
It's a routine check done every year, but it's vital to making sure Election Day runs smoothly.
This year, there's a new tool to test, one you might see at your polling place: an electronic log book called a Poll Pad, meant to verify voters as they sign in.
"It won't let you finish checking in a voter until they have actually signed and the poll worker has initialed, and then it will print a receipt that the poll worker will hand to the voter," Fernandez said. "The voter takes that paper to the clerk who will hand them the correct ballot."
As testing wraps up, it's nearly time to vote, and some ballots may be cast within a couple weeks. 
"Once we are done with this testing process, we will start to mail ballots," she said. "We are hoping that voters will have their ballots in hand by early May."
A race to primary day, but one critical to making sure the voters' voices are heard.
"I think that if you ask anybody, Erie has a proven track record for being ready, for being honest accurate, and that's going to continue this year, " Bayle said.