Onondaga County’s Democratic Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny calls the court of appeals ruling on even-numbered year elections a “celebration of democracy.”

“It’s unanimous. It’s bipartisan. It was written by the one Republican judge on the Court of Appeals,” said Czarny. “It’s pretty clear it’s a win for voters and will help move New York forward.”

https://www.wrvo.org/2025-10-22/county-election-years-expected-to-shift-after-court-of-appeals-ruling

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Supporters say the law will enhance democracy by increasing the percentage of voters.

In Onondaga County, 72% of registered voters cast ballots in 2024, a presidential election year, and 56% voted in 2022, a gubernatorial year. That compares with 30% turnout in 2023 and 31% in 2021.

“Now more people will choose their representatives,’’ Czarny said. “And however that turns out, whoever they choose, it’s better for democracy.”

https://www.syracuse.com/news/2025/10/nys-highest-court-upholds-even-year-election-law-that-onondaga-county-fought.html

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“Some people may not realize you have to apply every year for the early vote by mail, so they should do so today,” said Czarny.

https://www.localsyr.com/news/local-news/onondaga-county-prepares-for-early-voting-ahead-of-november-election/

Still, long-time Democratic elections commissioner Dustin Czarny said the results are clear.

“When we brought in the people, the numbers really started going down,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that there weren’t lessons learned from last year, absolutely. And we’ve been putting those in place.”

In fact, Czarny said, they’re processing registration forms in four days, less than the state mandated seven. He added for the first time in years, he’s pleased with the 2026 budget proposed by the county executive.

https://www.waer.org/news/2025-09-25/more-staff-new-commissioner-address-previous-challenges-at-onondaga-county-board-of-elections