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Early Voting Numbers up by 60% in Onondaga County Early Voting Numbers up 60% in Onondaga County

Learn Why The County Is Doing More to Promote Early Voting

By Nick Luttrell

ANCHOR: While election day is just 8 days away, that’s not stopping some locals from sending in their ballots early. NCC News’ Nick Luttrell is live right now outside of the Onondaga County Board Election Office. Nick, what’ve you got for us?

REPORTER: Thanks guys yeah we’re only on day three of early voting here in Onondaga county but we received word that there’s already over 3000 votes that have accumulated over the past few days with that early voting, and the county election board has opened up more locations over the past few years in order to promote early voting.

REPORTER: As election day quickly approaches, more Central New Yorkers are getting in their ballots early. The county Elections Commissioner, Dustin Czarny says they’ve seen a rise in early votes this year.

CZARNY: “We had about 2655 voters vote over the weekend for early voting when comparing to local years 2019 and 2021. That’s up about 60% for the first weekend of those two years. So that’s pretty good.”

REPORTER: As to the reason why more voters are getting out and voting early, Czarny says it’s something his department is pushing.

CZARNY: “We’ve done a lot of push on making sure that people know that this is a valuable option, that it works and that it’s secure.”

REPORTER: That’s the reason for the county election commissioner, but why are locals showing up so early?

NIELSEN: “Being a grandma, I have some grandchildren down in North Carolina and need to go down and help them out for a week. So I will be gone on election day.”

ANONYMOUS: “I like voting early to get it out of the way. And so if other things come up during the week, it’s all done.”

DEROSE: “Heading out to Florida for a few days. I’ll miss the vote.”

REPORTER: No matter the reason, they all agree getting their vote in is important. And while it might seem like a small election season, Czarney says there’s still some races that voters are keeping their eye on.

CZARNY: “Well, I think the big races are the countywide races.”

REPORTER: Those races are headlined by the country executive spot between republican incumbent Ryan McMahon against his opposer, democrat Bill Kinne. But no matter who is running for these spots, the county’s board election office is preparing for any situation that may arise.

CZARNY: “We usually see low participation in these local years, but we’ll be ready for more.”

REPORTER: Now we heard from Czarny right there but someone else who also spoke today: the current county executive Ryan McMahon, who said the state puts in a lot of money in order to try to promote people to vote early and vote often I’m sure he hopes that people vote for him but just voting in general is good for everyone. I’m Nick Leo reporting in Syracuse for NCC news. Send it back to you guys in the studio.

ANCHOR: Nick thank you

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — While election day is just 8 days away, that’s not stopping some locals from sending in their ballots early. It’s only day three of early voting in Onondaga County but we received word that there’s already over 3,000 votes that have accumulated over the past few days.

The county election board has opened up more locations over the past few years in order to promote early voting. The democratic elections commissioner, Dustin Czarny says they’ve seen a rise in early votes this year.

“We had about 2600 to 55 voters vote over the weekend for early voting, Czarny said. “When comparing to local years 2019 and 2021, that’s up about 60% for the first weekend of those two years. So that’s pretty good.”

As to the reason why more voters are getting out and voting early, Czarny says it’s something his department is pushing.

“We’ve done a lot of push on making sure that people know that this is a valuable option, that it works and that it’s secure,” he said.

That’s the reason for the county election commissioner, but why are locals showing up so early?

Local resident who spoke with NCC News explained various reasons for voting early such as wanting to get it out of the way before election and being out of town next week.

No matter the reason, they all agree getting their vote in is important. And while it might seem like a small election season, Czarney says there’s still some races that voters are keeping their eye on.

“Well, I think the big races are the countywide races,” Czarny said.

Those races are headlined by the country executive spot between republican incumbent Ryan McMahon and his opponent, Democrat Bill Kinne. But no matter who is running for these spots, the county’s board election office is preparing for any situation that may arise.

“We usually see low participation in these local years, but we’ll be ready for more,” Czarny said.

NCC News also spoke with current county executive Ryan McMahon, who said the state puts in a lot of money in order to try to encourage people to vote early and vote often.

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