Saturday marks the first day of early voting in Onondaga County. The Board of Elections will open 10 early voting sites this year, up from six in previous years.
Transcript
KARL WINTER: A new state law requires Onondaga County to add four early voting sites. Election Commissioner Dustin Czarny says the change accommodates more voters.
DUSTIN CZARNY: We saw really long lines in 2020. So to get ready for federal years, they’ve decided to do one for every 30,000 voters, which meant Onondaga County went from six to 10.
WINTER: Czarny says registered absentee voters must vote absentee, but any other registered voter can visit any of the 10 sites. Lifelong resident Deborah Kenyon voted today with an absentee ballot, as she will not be in Syracuse for election day.
DEBORAH KENYON: I just feel that it’s very important to make a difference and to vote. And it’s our choice, so I just wanted to make sure I did that before l left town.
WINTER: Predicting election turnout is tough but Czarny says the amount of absentee voters — like Kenyon — show that 2022 could be a big year.
CZARNY: Absentees are already higher than what we saw in 2018. All of the polling and other states that have started early voting, have seen records numbers of early voting for a midterm year.
WINTER: Czarny also said a competitive governor race and Congressional governor race could increase early voting turnout.
WINTER: The Community Center here in North Syracuse is one of those four new early voting sites in Onondaga County this year. Czarny says the political campaigns find out when people cast their votes early and then stop calling those potential voters, so that could be a motivator to vote early. Reporting in North Syracuse, Karl Winter, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — In-person voting in Onondaga County for the 2022 midterm elections opens Saturday with early voting.
The County Board of Elections is staging 10 early voting sites this year, up from six in previous years.
“The New York State legislature decided to expand early voting, from the one site for every 50,000 voters that they used to have,” said Dustin Czarny, County Board of Elections Commissioner. “We saw really long lines in 2020, so to get ready for federal years, they’ve decided to do one for every 30,000 voters.”
The four new sites are at Beauchamp Branch Library in Syracuse, Lysander Town Hall, North Syracuse Community Center, and Onondaga Community College’s Mulroy Hall. The full schedule and list of voting sites is available here.
The sites may lessen crowds prior to and on the Nov. 8 Election Day, Czarny said.
“I think it will reduce lines, in case of a large turnout, because people will be dispersed into different areas,” Czarny said.
Early voting centers closer to a specific neighborhood also tends to increase early voter turnout in that area, Czarny said.
The 2022 election also marks a Congressional redistricting year in New York State. Onondaga County is now in the 22nd Congressional district.
A competitive Congressional race between Francis Conole (D) and Brandon Williams (R), as well as a competitive governor race between Kathy Hochul (D) and Lee Zeldin (R), may contribute to a strong 2022 voter turnout, Czarny said.
“Absentees are already higher than what we saw in 2018,” Czarny said. “All of the polling and other states that have started early voting, have seen records numbers of early voting for a midterm year, rivaling a presidential year and in some cases, surpassing 2020.”
New York State voters can check their voter registration status here. Registered voters do not need to bring anything to early unless they received a letter from the Board of Elections requiring identification as a first-time voter.