AUBURN -- Board of elections workers have started to count absentee ballots in the 25th Congressional District race. Not counting those ballots, 687 votes separate Dan Maffei and Ann Marie Buerkle.

Wednesday, Cayuga County was the first county in the district to start counting its absentee ballots. Commissioner Katie Lacey says workers made it about one third of the way through the process. They hope to finish by Friday around noon.

Cayuga County only had 123 ballots to count, but counting them took some time. They started with affidavit ballots, or paper ballots. Elections workers double checked those ballots and decided whether or not they should be considered valid. Representatives and lawyers from Dan Maffei and Ann Marie Buerkle's campaigns closely watched the process and asked questions.

The counting of the absentee ballots was similar. Occassionally, someone from one of the campaigns would ask elections workers to look up additional information or double check a signature.

At the Onondaga County Board of Elections, representatives from the campaigns were reviewing the sealed absentee ballots. The county, which sent out more than 8,000 absentee ballots, plans to open their ballots one week from today.

Monroe County plans to check absentee ballots on Friday, and Wayne County will open theirs on Monday.