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Onondaga County Expecting Record Number of Absentee Voters Onondaga County Expecting Record Number of Absentee Voters

By PJ Clark

The Onondaga County Board of Elections has been hard at work mailing absentee ballots ahead of the 2020 election.
© 2020 PJ Clark

PJ CLARK: WE ARE 29 DAYS AWAY FROM THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND THINGS ARE GETTING BUSY AT THE ONONDAGA COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS. DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, ONONDAGA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS COMMISSIONER DUSTIN CZARNY BELIEVES THERE WILL BE A RECORD HIGH AMOUNT OF ABSENTEE VOTERS THIS NOVEMBER.

DUSTIN CZARNY: “I MEAN, WE NORMALLY HAVE ABOUT 250 THOUSAND VOTERS FOR A GENERAL ELECTION, IN A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. IF A HUNDRED AND… I THINK IT’S GOING TO BE ABOUT HALF ARE GONNA VOTE BY ABSENTEE. THAT BEING SAID WE DON’T KNOW, WE WON’T KNOW UNTIL ELECTION DAY.”

CLARK: WE WON’T KNOW THE EXACT NUMBERS ON ABSENTEE VOTING UNTIL ELECTION DAY, BUT HERE’S WHAT WE DO KNOW. CZARNY SAYS THE ONONDAGA COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS HAS SENT OUT ABOUT 50 THOUSAND ABSENTEE BALLOTS, WITH ABOUT 50 THOUSAND OR MORE TO GO. THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS HAS RECEIVED OVER 10 THOUSAND BALLOTS BACK ALREADY IN JUST THE FIRST WEEK. CZARNY IS A FAN OF SO MANY PEOPLE VOTING EARLY

CZARNY: “IN A WAY, WE’RE TRYING TO FLATTEN OUR OWN CURVES HERE. THE MORE PEOPLE THAT ACT NOW, THE LESS PEOPLE ARE ACTING RIGHT BEFORE THE ELECTION, THE MORE LIKELY WE CAN GET THESE OUT IN A REASONABLE TIME PERIOD SO PEOPLE CAN GET THESE BACK TO US.”

CLARK: TO ACQUIRE AN ABSENTEE BALLOT FOR THIS YEAR’S ELECTION, CZARNY SAYS YOU NEED ONE OF THESE, AN APPLICATION MAILED SEVEN DAYS BEFORE ELECTION DAY. THEN, THEY’LL MAIL YOU AN ABSENTEE BALLOT TO YOUR ADDRESS, YOU’LL STICK IT IN AN ENVELOPE, AND IT’LL GO RIGHT BACK INTO THE MAIL. REPORTING IN SYRACUSE, I’M PJ CLARK, N-C-C NEWS.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – With under one month until Election Day, it is getting busy at the Onondaga County Board of Elections.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the county is expecting a record number of absentee ballots this November. Dustin Czarny, Onondaga County’s Democratic Elections Commissioner, expects over one hundred thousand voters to fill out absentee ballots.

“We normally have about 250 thousand voters for a general election, in a presidential election,” Czarny said. “I think it’s going to be about half are going to vote by absentee. That being said, we don’t know, we won’t know until election day.”

Czarny does not have the final numbers just yet, but he did share statistics on what the Board of Elections has seen thus far. According to Czarny, they have sent out over 50,000 absentee ballots as of Monday afternoon. He expects the county to send out over 50,000 more before Election Day.

Voters are already returning their ballots, too. Of the 50,000 mailed, Czarny said the Onondaga County Board of Elections had already received 10,000 back in just the first week. The county’s current record for absentee ballots is 16,000, which was set in 2016. The Board of Elections expects to surpass that number by the end of this week. Czarny said he is glad voters are acting early.

“In a way, we’re trying to flatten our own curves here,” he said. “The more people that act now, the less people are acting right before the election, and the more likely we can get these out in a reasonable time period so people can get these back to us.”

Onondaga County residents can apply for an absentee ballot by using the portal on the Onondaga County Board of Elections’ website, mailing in an application or calling the Board of Elections at (315) 435-8683.

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