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Onondaga County Voters Cast Thousands of Votes Via Mail Onondaga County Voters Cast Thousands of Votes Via Mail

By Michael Furnari

A road sign outside the Onondaga County Board of Elections
© 2020 Michael Furnari

Michael Furnari: 
I’M REPORTING LIVE FORM OUTSIDE HUNTINGTON HALL, ONE OF THE LOCATIONS SU STUDENTS CAN CAS THEIR BALLOTS THIS NOVEMBER, AND WHAT I HAVE HERE IS AN ABSENTEE BALLOT. NEARLY 10,000 PEOPLE IN ONONDAGA COUNTY HAVE ALREADY CAST THEIR VOTES BY ABSENTEE BALLOT.50,000 BALLOTS HAVE BEEN MAILED OUT TO THOSE WHO DONT PLAN TO VOTE IN PERSON, AND IN THE WAKE OF PRESIDENT TRUMP’S COVID DIAGNOSIS IF ANY VOTERS HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT A VOTE THEY’VE ALREADY CAST ONONDAGA COUNTY ELECTIONS COMMISSIONER DUSTIN CZARNY SAYS THAT NY STATE VOTERS STILL HAVE OPTIONS.

Dustin Czarny: IT SHOULD BE NOTED, THAT IF YOU VOTE BY ABSENTEE IN NY YOU CAN REQUEST ANOTHER BALLOT AND THAT WILL SUPPLANT THE BALLOT YOU’VE DONE, OR YOU CAN SHOW UP IN PERSON ON EARLY VOTING AND ELECTION DAY, AND THAT WILL SUPPLANT THE ABSENTEE BALLOT. SO YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR MIND RIGHT UP UNTIL ELECTION DAY IF YOU WANT TO IN NEW YORK.

Michael Furnari: 
NOW NEW YORK VOTERS HAV UNTIL OCTOBER 27TH TO REQUEST AN ABSENTEE BALLOT AND UP UNTIL NOVEMBER THIRD TO POSTMARK IT. THAT MAY LEAD TO SOME DELAYS IN THE ELECTION RESULTS WE RECEIVE BUT CZARNY TOLD ME THAT AS LONG AS THE PROCESS IS FAIR ADN SAFE, SOMETHING HE’S MAKING SURE WILL HAPPEN, NEW YORK VOTERS WILL HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT WITH THIS FALL’S ELECTION…

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – There is less than a month left before Election Day, and roughly 10,000 Onondaga County voters have already cast their votes.

Counties nationwide have expanded their absentee voting operations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Onondaga County is no different. The county has already sent out 50,000 ballots and expects many more to be required before election day.

“Considering that we’re at 50,000 now, with 28 days to go, we expect there to be about 100,000”, said Onondaga County Board of Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny.

With so much of the voting not taking place on Election Day, there has been speculation that many election outcomes will not be clearly declared by the end of Election Day. Czarny acknowledges that while this is a likely outcome, he does not believe that Onondaga County voters should be concerned about the fairness or safety of the process.

“We may not know who wins this for a couple of weeks, and that’s okay. What’s important is that every vote counts and that everyone is safe in casting their vote,” said Czarny.

While New York may not be a competitive state for the presidential election, Onondaga County has the NY-24 congressional race between John Katko and Dana Balter and the NY-50 State Senate between John Mannion and Angi Renna. Czarny indicated the possibility that both races may not be decided by the end of election night due to the volume of absentee ballots.

Onondaga County residents can still apply for an absentee ballot until October 27th. They will need to postmark their ballot by November 3rd in order for it to count in this fall’s election.

Residents can apply for an absentee ballot through the Onondaga County Board of Elections website, Residents can also mail in their application or call the Board of Elections at (315) 435-8683.

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