Tue. Dec 10th, 2024
Early voting in Onondaga County
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Early voting participation reached new heights in Onondaga County

Brennan Finder: When Central New York voters hit the polls on Tuesday, they were participating in a declining trend. Voting on Election Day. According to Onondaga Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny, more people are choosing to vote early in-person.

Dustin Czarny: Where the large increase was this year is early vote. In 2020, we had 59,000 people early vote. We had 79,000 people vote early in 2024.

Finder: One of these early voters was Nick Bremerman, a long time Syracuse resident, and intern with the New York Democratic Coordinated Campaign 2024. 

Nick Bremerman: I like to go in-person and see my vote get counted. But I think doing it early, it just relieves the stress of waiting until Election Day. And then worrying about like, lines or other things coming up

Finder: Czarny believes voters are more comfortable with early voting than ever before.

Czarny: I think people are starting to get used to early voting. We have only had it in New York since 2019. It’s convenient. We increased our number of sites to 10 sites.

Finder: Additionally, the partisan stigma of voting before election is starting to disappear.

Czarny: In the early years of early voting, Democrats were using it, Republicans thought it was evil or something, and they just didn’t use it. Now, we saw a more traditional turnout.

Finder: Another evolution in Onondaga elections is how quickly results are reported. A New York law passed in 2022 requires election officials to review and verify mail-in ballots within four days of when they are received. Czarny believes the new legislation greatly improved the system.

Czarny: That new law that allows us to canvas it beforehand, is great. In 2020, we had to wait until seven days after the election to even open one ballot.

Finder: On Tuesday night, it took barely two hours after the polls closed for key races in Onondaga County to be called. Bremerman appreciated the swift process.

Bremerman: I was very relieved that we got some pretty clear results very early on because, I mean, I think it took at least a week for them to call it in 2022. And that just…it was agonizing the wait

Finder: While most races in Onondaga County have been called by the Associated Press, Czarny reminds residents that nothing is official until the final vote count is certified. Brennan Finder, NCC News

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — When Central New York voters hit the polls on Tuesday, they were participating in a declining trend: voting on Election Day.

According to Onondaga Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny, more people are choosing to vote early in-person.

“Where the large increase was this year is early vote. In 2020, we had 59,000 people early vote. We had 79,000 people vote early in 2024,” he said.

One of these early voters was Nick Bremerman, a longtime Syracuse resident and intern with the New York Democratic Coordinated Campaign 2024.

“I like to go in-person and see my vote get counted. But I think doing it early, it just relieves the stress of waiting until Election Day. And then worrying about like, lines or other things coming up,” he said.

Czarny thinks voters are more comfortable with early voting than ever before.

“I think people are starting to get used to early voting,” Czarny said. “We have only had it in New York since 2019. It’s convenient. We increased our number of sites to 10 sites.”

Additionally, the partisan stigma of voting before election is starting to disappear.

 “In the early years of early voting, Democrats were using it, Republican thought it was evil or something, and they just didn’t use it. Now, we saw a more traditional turnout,” Czarny said.

Another evolution in Onondaga elections is how quickly results are reported. A New York law, passed in 2022, requires election officials to review and verify mail-in ballots within four days of when they are received.

Czarny said the new legislation greatly improved the system.

“That new law that allows us to canvass it beforehand, is great. In 2020, we had to wait until seven days after the election to even open one ballot.”

On Tuesday night, it took barely two hours after the polls closed for key races in Onondaga County to be called. Bremerman appreciated the swift process.

“I was very relieved that we got some pretty clear results very early on,” he said. “I think it took at least a week for them to call it in 2022…it was agonizing the wait.”

While most races in Onondaga County have been called by the Associated Press, Czarny reminds residents that nothing is official until the final vote count is certified.