Dustin M. Czarny

Sunday Thoughts: My Early Voting Expansion Proposal

Note: Early this month I formally submitted this proposal to expand Early Voting in Onondaga County. When we the OCBOE formally met on Monday May 3rd, 2021 my counterpart refused to discuss expansion this year and opted to stick with just 6 sites. This makes Onondaga County the largest county doing the bare minimum of Early Voting sites in new York State. I believe the facts for expansion speak for themselves so I am releasing the plan I formally submitted In April making the case for Early Voting expansion THIS year. Below is my proposal.

Expanding Early Voting in Onondaga County

Background

On May 2, 2021 at our monthly organizational meeting we will vote on our Early Voting sites as required by NYS Election Law. NYS requires us to have in 2019 and 2020 we elected to do the minimum number of sites 6 for over 300k voters. In 2019 the sites were Van Buren Town Hall, Clay Town Hall, Dewitt Town Hall, Lafayette Station #1, Armond Magnarelli Center, and Syracuse Connections at South West Community Center. In the infancy of the program 8k voters, or 8% of the overall turnout, chose to participate in Early Voting. The numbers were almost triple the absentee ballot universe. There were little lines though some minor traffic issues at Clay Town Hall and Dewitt Town Hall our most populous voting centers. There were complaints from those populations in the southwest corner of our county they did not have accessible location.

In 2020 in the middle of a pandemic we once again chose to keep the 6 minimum sites. However we made an important adjustment moving from Van Buren Town Hall to Camillus Fire Station. The COVID 19 crisis drove almost half of our electorate to find alternate voting methods. One of the highest turnout elections in our history we saw nearly 50% of the electorate chose not to vote on Election Day. That portion was equally divided between Early and absentee voting. Those fearing COVID-19 chose to stay at home and vote by mail while those wanting to vote by convenience chose Early Voting. The nearly 60k voters that flooded our sites caused major traffic and lines at all of our sites. The long lines and traffic issues put excess demands on the Towns and City to provide police and traffic control. Some voters waited well over 2 hours, beyond our mandate of a 30 minute wait, to cast their ballot.

Minimum sites for 2021

We agree on the six minimum sites for 2021. These are the same sites from 2020 with the exception of a temporary change moving from Camillus Fire Station to Camillus Town Hall for the General Election due to condemnation of the pedestrian bridge. We both agree that if we are to remain at 6 these sites are well spaced out and provide minimum needs for our voters. While some sites performed better than others the familiarity of these sites to the voters as well as coverage in North, South, East and West portions of the County and North and South west portions of the City of Syracuse spreads out the coverage as evenly as possible given the small number of sites.

Need for Expansion

While the unprecedented numbers in 2020 were hard to imagine earlier in the year, it was only logical that Early Voting would grow in popularity. As we saw in the 40+ states that came before us, the initial years were sparse but the growth happens over time. In many states usage of Early Voting exceeds 40% of the voting totals. In Onondaga County in 2020 we saw only 25% of our voting populace vote. There is plenty of room for growth. Despite the long lines the voters appreciated the ability to choose the hours in which they vote as well as the convenience of being able to choose polling places instead of being assigned just one.

I am grateful that facing the long lines last year we were able to reach agreement to extend hours on the final weekend of voting. This did help mitigate the wait times. However extending hours is not a significant way to deal with expected crowds. The lesson we should learn form 2020 is it would be better to disperse the voting populace by adding sites, reducing initial staffing, and then surging staff to areas that are experiencing longer waits.

Placing Expansion Sites

There are two main deficiencies in our 6 site structure. With a county as large and populace as ours it is difficult to serve all of our community’s geographic needs. The towns of Lysander, Cicero, Onondaga, and Manlius are some of our more populace communities yet do not have Early Voting sits inside their townships. Because these towns are located squarely between the current 6 site plans their populace has the farthest to go to take advantage of Early Voting. We have seen that the farther away from an Early Voting site you are the less likely to take advantage of Early Voting.

The current 6 site plan also is lacking in another quality that helps Early Voting, placing sites that are congregated by large amounts of citizens. Because Early Voting allows any voter to vote at any site, the concept of placing polling sites only near places of residence is limiting. Added value to any site would be a large amount of county residents that are expected to be in the vicinity of the site during the hours of operations 10 days before General Election Day. Places like the Civic Center and Onondaga Community College have large amounts of county residents that work or study in the immediate area. Not only would placement in these communities help the residents that live nearby, it will help all residents who frequent these areas easing the burden on all county sites.

No matter where we expand sites it is important we commit that the expansion has geographic and ideological balance as much as possible. Confidence in our integrity is important and fair placement should be tantamount to our deliberations.

Expansion Proposals

For your consideration I am offering three options regarding expansion in 2021, a modest expansion to 8 sites, a moderate expansion to 10 sites, and a robust expansion to 12 sites. While I am always for the most expansion possible I understand fiscal concerns and I am willing to accept that the most aggressive expansion may not be possible this year. However since there are bills in the NYS legislature which would double the amount of sites required I felt it is important to at least start the conversation. Across the state over the last two years many counties and most of the large counties, have gone beyond their mandated minimum. They have seen on average increased usage of Early Voting.

Expansion to 8 sites: Onondaga Community College and Cicero Town Hall. This option allows us to address our most glaring needs, access to Early Voting in the Southwest and Northeast corners of our counties. Cicero has over 23k voters and Onondaga has over 16k voters. In addition to the residence in the Town of Onondaga thousands of county residents from all walks of life attend school and work at Onondaga Community College. The college faculty and administration are willing to house

us in the facility and there is plenty of parking on campus as well as the ability to reserve spaces close to the arena for those who are elderly and have mobility issues. Placement at these sites will ease the burden on our three biggest suburban sites Clay, Camillus, and Dewitt as well as achieve a site with high public concentration. Ideologically Cicero is one of the most GOP leaning towns and though Onondaga is evenly split in registrations one could assume the college population leans towards the left. Pairing these two sites gives balance to this expansion. I would also be open to North Syracuse Village Hall instead of Cicero Town Hall.

Expansion to 10 sites: Lysander Town Hall & The Civic Center in Syracuse. This is my preferred option. Adding these sites in addition to the sites at OCC and Cicero adding sites in Lysander and Downtown Syracuse is the next logical choice. Lysander has over 17k residents and the residents there have flooded the Clay Town hall site as well as Camillus. Placing a site Downtown would serve a growing downtown population that has mobility issues, be close to the Centro bus transfer station, and serve the thousands of downtown residents. Lysander has decidedly a GOP lean its registration. Any site inside the city is bound to have an ideological left lean though the makeup of the thousands of downtown workers is undetermined. Pairing these sites also gives balance for this further expansion.

Expansion to 12 sites: Salina Town Hall and Manlius Town Hall. If we really want to invest in Early Voting doubling the amount of sites is the eventual choice. Expanding to Salina and Manlius will put sites in every town with over 15k voters. It will ease the burden on the Dewitt site as well as Clay and Armond Magnarelli Center. Manlius is our third largest town 23.5k voters and Salina has 22k voters. Both Manlius and Salina have Democratic leaning registrations but when we get to this level of expansion it is harder to find areas of large population that doesn’t have a Democratic lean. The sheer numbers of population in these towns calls for expansion into them if we go to the highest level. I would be open to adding Van Buren Town Hall and the NYS Fairgrounds to also add in sites at Geddes and Van Buren in addition to these for a super expansion in the future which will bring more moderate towns into the mix.

Fiscal Impact

Expanding Early Voting sites will require some expenditure of resources above the current budgeting levels. However the current budgeting levels may be inadequate even for the bare minimum 6 site plan. The main expenditure for Early Voting is the inspector totals. We already have enough Electronic Poll Books and Poll Print units to expand to even 14 sites with reasonable accommodations. We also have money in the Shoebox and upcoming Capital Grants if any small purchases are needed. The supplies spent on ballot paper and other consumables will be the same regardless of the number of sites as the population of the voters will not change drastically, only their convenience and time.

When we look at our normal 6 site plan we have staffing of 1 Poll Site Manager, 2 Voting System Specialists and 6 regular inspectors per day at each Early Voting site. This would normally cost us approximately $65,000 per nine day EV period. During the 2020 election because of the long lines we had to surge staff and increase hours. Our staff at each site went to 2 PSM, 2 VSS, and 8 inspectors and

with the added hours it cost Onondaga County over $156k. The extra staff dealt with crowd control and line maintenance as well as assisting voters with their ballots.

By expanding the sites we reduce the chances for long lines and crowded polling places requiring additional staff and hours. If we expanded sites we could reduce our staffing footprint to 1 PSM, 2 VSS, and 4 Inspectors. If needed we could surge staff to larger sites seeing more activity to reduce wait time, especially on closing weekend. Our cost ranges for the expansion would be as following: 8 sites 70k-86k, 10 sites 87k-107k, 12 sites 104k to 128k. I have attached a spreadsheet which details each scenario.

While expanding sites will add costs in some cases, it is actually less then what was spent in 2020 due to the long wait times. The more sites we add, the less likely we will have to surge staffing to deal with long lines as voters will have more options and can choose from a variety of sites. It is also worth noting that Early Voting, per voter, is less expensive to Onondaga County than absentee and mail in balloting. Expansion will encourage its use as oppose to voters who live farther away from designated sites deciding to request mail in ballots. The NYS Legislature in 2021 once again included money for early Voting Costs for the purpose of covering expansion of Early Voting. Onondaga County is set to receive between $40k and $50k. This will more than cover an expansion to the 10 site model.

Conclusion

I propose we expand to the 10 site model for Early Voting for 2021. We can reassess in 2022 whether this reduced wait times and provided more ease and convenience for voters. We should use the extra funds from NYS to cover the expansion costs plus reduce the overall local footprint of Early Voting on local dollars.

Zoom with Czarny: Gio Costantiello of Dominion Voting

Today I am happy to sit down with Gio Costantiello of Dominion Voting Machines. Dominion is one of our top vendors with Onondaga County Board of Elections providing all the image cast scanners used on Election Day as well as help with ballot creation and absentees. We dive into some of the myths spread by the big lie and what is next for Dominion and elections in New York State.

Wonky Wednesday: The Town of Pompey

Welcome back to Wonky Wednesday. Each week I do a deep dive into the election and registration data that makes up the electoral landscape of our home, Onondaga County. I hope by looking into this data we can glean that this everchanging county is not monolithic as once thought and competition for Democrats, and all registrations, can be found everywhere. This week I investigate the Town of Pompey.

The Town of Pompey sits on the eastern border of Onondaga County just south of Manlius and north of Fabius. The northern portion of the town has larger housing developments whereas the southern portion of town is more rural with agrarian and larger single more affluent housing plots of land. Pompey is not split up by County Legislative districts and has no villages. We will be looking at the 6 Election Districts that divide up the town.

The overall population of the town of Pompey is definitely in the smaller side but it is growing. General population shifts and more housing could be part of the growth. Just as likely are the easier voter registration tools since 2016 allowing some of the population to stay registered and active. 2020 saw a huge registration surge in this town as well which is typical for a Presidential year.

The current registration of the Town of Pompey shows a solid GOP town. Republicans make up 37% of the town with Democrats at 29%. Non-enrolled (BLK) voters makeup 26% of the town. The two Election Districts are not quite equal in size. The 6 election districts in the town of Pompey are oddly drawn but not overly unbalanced in the voter population.

Pompey is a smaller town but there appears to be some changes happening in the partisan population. Pompey’s GOP population has been relatively stable. However since 2016 the Democrats and Non-enrolled have been gaining steadily and cutting into that plurality. Since the GOP is remaining stable this could be new moves and younger residents enrolling as Democrats and non-enrolled rather than massive party switches or population change.

The election districts in Pompey provide an example of the dichotomy of this changing town. ED 3,4, and 6 share borders with the emerging Democratic stronghold of Manlius. These eds while not overly Democratic at least are competitive enrollment wise. The other EDS have more in common with other border towns like Lafayette and Fabius. It is likely the differences in these areas will continue to grow if current demographic trends are to be believed. The more suburban areas of Pompey continue to get bluer as the rural areas stay red or get redder.

The significant six races provide some evidence that the growing dichotomy of the town presents some opportunities for Democrats under the right circumstances. In 2019 the County Executive, County Clerk, and County Comptroller had solid margins of victory in this town. However Democrats were able to take advantage of a GOP civil war and win control of the Town Board and put a Democrat in as Supervisor. The same dynamic happened in 2020 with Congress and State Senate breaking for the GOP but Biden winning the town for President. While there is a conservative lean to this town they will reject more Trumpian leans of the party if there is a coalition of Democrats and Non-enrolled working together.

The Town of Pompey Democrats nominates their candidates by caucus. They will elect their Supervisor and two town councilors in 2021. If you are interested in getting involved or running for office contact Pompey Town Democratic Chair Victoria Lightcap at victorialightcap@gmail.com

Commissioner In a Car: Early Voting in Onondaga County.

Today I talk about the decision to remain with 6 Early Voting sites in Onondaga County. I also address some of the various election hijinks happening in Arizona and the take a few questions. I hope you enjoy.

Judge rejects GOP lawsuit; Democrats keep 2nd ballot line in Onondaga, other counties – Syracuse.com

“I think it’s a good ruling for democracy,’’ said Dustin Czarny, Onondaga County’s Democratic elections commissioner. “It lets the voters decide.’’

https://www.syracuse.com/news/2021/04/judge-rejects-gop-lawsuit-democrats-keep-2nd-ballot-line-in-onondaga-other-counties.html

Zoom with Czarny: Joe Nehme of CNY Regional Director for Senator Chuck Schumer

Today I sit down with Joe Nehme CNY Regional Director for Senator Chuck Schumer. We talk about what a regional office for a Senator does, how working through a pandemic has meant for him, and the ambitious legislative agenda for the Majority leader in the Senate, including the American Rescue Plan, American Jobs Plan, American Family Act and S1 and John Lewis Voting Rights Act. I hope you enjoy.

Wonky Wednesday: Town of Otisco

The Town of Otisco sits just south of the Town of Onondaga near the center bottom of our County. There are no established villages in Otisco nor are there any defined suburban areas. This is mostly an agricultural rural town with some clusters of housing along Otisco Lake which may not necessarily be full time residential properties. It is also one of the few towns that are wholly located in a County Legislative District (6) which is currently represented by Julie Abbott-Keenan (R). There are two election districts that basically split the town into western and eastern halves

The overall population of the town of Otisco is very small. It is the second smallest town in terms of voter population in our County. How small is it? It is smaller than 16 of the 19 Wards inside the City of Syracuse in terms of registered voters. This makes it the 5^th smallest political subdivision in Onondaga County. And it doesn’t look like the population is increasing either. Normal voter registration rises in the 2020 election appear but it is not likely a long term trend population trend. It is more likely a result of the normal registration rates rising during Presidential years.

The current registration of the Town of Otisco shows a solidly GOP dominated town. Republicans make up 45% of the town with Democrats at 23%. Non-enrolled (BLK) voters outnumber Democrats with 25%. The two Election Districts are not quite equal in size. ED 2 is smaller in area but has more of the housing developments as it is the western portion of the town near the lake. ED 1 is the more agrarian eastern portion of town.

The partisan population in this small town has been relatively stable since 2009. The GOP has remained at the same level nearly doubling the Democratic enrollment. Democrats have had a mini surge since 2016 but it is not even enough to overtake the Non-enrolled. Finally the non-enrolled has also remained stable just outnumbering the GOP.

The election districts in Otisco are relatively similar in terms of partisan enrollment as well. ED 1 the GOP doubles the Democrat enrollment. ED 2 is a little less GOP dominant but not by much. However what little difference there is doesn’t really matter as every elected office in this town runs town wide. In fact if the election district sizes were ever to be raised Otisco might be a town where we consider only having one election district in it.

The significant six races we are looking at really drives home the fact that this is as strong a GOP town as it gets. In 2019 all three races, County Executive, County Clerk, and County Comptroller the GOP candidate crushed the opposition. In fact Beadnell and Dell doubled up their opponents while McMahon failed to do that, barely. In 2020 in a heavy Democratic year the GOP candidates had double digit wins in each race. Only Joe Biden could crack 40% in this town. Democrats only hope of winning in this area is to connect with non-enrolled voters, form a coalition, and hope for a local issue to rally around.

The Town of Otisco Democrats nominates their candidates by caucus. For such a small town Otisco actually has a good deal of races up this year. They will elect Supervisor, Clerk, three Town Councilors, Highway Superintendent, and tax assessors. If you are interested in any of these positions contact Otisco Democratic Town Chair Toby Shelley at toby_shelley@yahoo.com

Commissioner in a Car: Election Inspector classes begin

Today I talk about Election Inspector classes starting at OCBOE and how to apply. I also talk about my recent oped to syracuse.com on funding elections in Onondaga County. https://www.syracuse.com/opinion/2021/04/to-preserve-fair-elections-onondaga-county-needs-to-invest-more-money-commentary.html

To preserve fair elections, Onondaga County needs to invest more money (Commentary)

This originally was published by syraucse.com on April 26, 2021 https://www.syracuse.com/opinion/2021/04/to-preserve-fair-elections-onondaga-county-needs-to-invest-more-money-commentary.html

I am reporting it here to add to my essays on my Tumblr blog on elections.

It was welcome news that the American Rescue Plan had direct aid to local governments as part of its overall relief package passed into law in early March. This aide was meant to help restore vital services that were drastically cut during the COVID-19 crisis. In this revolutionary package, $89 million was given to Onondaga County with very few strings attached to it. The decision on how to spend this money resides with Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon and the Onondaga County Legislature. I believe it is vital that they reserve some of these funds to restore and enhance Democracy in Onondaga County.

Unlike previous packages there is no delineation for local Election Boards to receive any of the money assigned to Onondaga County. COVID-19 upended the 2020 Election season and the Onondaga County Board of Elections had to adjust. Comparing to 2016, our registration forms increased 250%; our absentee ballot applications increased 500%. We hired extra inspectors, temporary help, and worked 12 hour days in the weeks leading up to the General Election and after to meet our obligations to the voters of Onondaga County. The Onondaga County Board of Elections relied on CARES grant funding, existing federal Shoebox and HAVA grants, as well as a private Grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life to meet those needs and limit the impact on local dollars.

As we head into 2021, we will continue to require additional resources to cover these costs. The COVID-19 epidemic continues in our community and nearly all of the mitigation factors put in place in 2020 will be needed in 2021. Our workload on absentees and registration forms will continue to grow. Extra staff will be needed for cleaning and securing polling places. Unlike 2020 though there are no federal grants we can rely on to cover those costs. It is up to Onondaga County to utilize some of the $89 million from the American Rescue Plan and the unexpected budget surplus of over $20 million to provide resources to the Onondaga County Board of Elections so we can continue to meet our mission. It is my recommendation we do the following:

Restore the budget cuts for 2021. While much was made of the attempted salary cuts of both commissioners, this hid another more egregious issue. The Onondaga County Legislature reduced the proposed budget for the OCBOE by over $200k. This bi-partisan budget for 2021 was proposed by both me and my GOP counter-part and agreed to by the County Executive. We were told at the time this cut was because of the dire budget outlook for the County but given no specific reason for the reduction. With the unexpected County surplus, it is imperative that the Legislature restore these funds so we can hire the temporary staff and prepare for the anticipated needs of another election season under COVID-19.

Invest in Early Voting Expansion for 2021. The 2020 election season was a success in almost every way for Onondaga County. However, the unwillingness to expand Early Voting centers beyond the bare minimum was an abject failure. Two hour waits as well as massive traffic congestion plagued our sites as voters flocked to take advantage of this new reform. I give a great deal of credit to my colleague who agreed to expand hours in the face of this challenge in 2021. However, it is nearly impossible to address the demand in the Early Voting period adequately with so few locations. This is not a one-time event and we must plan for at least the same level of participation in the future. In fact, all evidence from other states continues show Early Voting usage grows over time.

I will propose at our May organizational meeting at the Onondaga County Board of Elections to increase to 10 Early Voting sites adding Onondaga Community College, Lysander Town Hall, Cicero Town Hall, and downtown in the Civic Center complex. Adding sites in Lysander, Onondaga and Cicero will ease the burdens on our three largest suburban sites, Camillus Fire Station, Clay Town Hall, and Dewitt Town Hall. Adding sites at OCC and downtown will also take advantage of the thousands of Onondaga County residents that either commute to work downtown or work, attend classes or events at OCC. Putting sites where people congregate will reduce the burden on all sites throughout the County and accommodate the growing need of our electorate.

New York State has once again included money in the 2021 budget to compensate for Early Voting Operations. To qualify for this money we must agree to expansion in May. In 2019 Onondaga County passed up on these funds which Syracuse.com said was “penny-wise, pound-foolish”. Failing to take advantage of this opportunity a second time would be compounding this initial mistake. If we act in May, we can expand with no further cost to the county. Even without this funding source we can do this without much additional resources. More sites will mean reduced traffic at each site, decreasing the need for additional staffing. We can always surge staffing to meet increased need in certain locations as we monitor usage throughout the Early Voting period.

Add Four Permanent Positions to the Onondaga County BOE roster for 2022. This last week the Onondaga County Board of Elections released our Annual Report. Detailed in its pages is not only the massive additional workload we are experiencing each year but the inequities our Board has had to face in terms of resources. The Onondaga County Board of Elections operates with just 16 full time staff including the two commissioners. For a county of over 307,000 voters that means we have just 1 full time staffer to every approximate 19,000 voters. This is the worst ration in the 57 County Board of Elections State of New York. Furthermore, our average dollar spent per voter annually ($9.28) is the 5th most austere budget as well. We are incredibly efficient and utilize technology and modernization to achieve our required duties. However, over the last few years our tiny staff has routinely had to work 12 hour days for weeks on end to be able to properly run elections. The human toll on this type of workload has caused turnover and burnout. Election work is specialized and must have bi-partisan checks and consistency. Temporary workers are not a proper way to address this tidal wave of work on the horizon. Even if we add 4 full time workers, an increase of 25% of our workforce, we still will be the worst ratio of full time workers to voters in the state.

Lack of resources is the leading cause of Election Day failures at Board of Elections. We saw this in Oneida and #NY22 just this past cycle. We have avoided this in Onondaga County because our staff is dedicated to the ideals of free and fair elections. We desperately need the additional resources to continue that excellence and accommodate the growing needs of our community. The amount for preparing for and fixing our inequities pales in compare to the price we will pay if our election process falters. We need to invest in our Right to Vote for it is the right that makes all other rights possible.

Dustin M. Czarny

Onondaga County Elections Commissioner (D)

Zoom with Czarny: Joe Driscoll 5th District Councilor

In today’s Zoom with Czarny I sit down with Joe Driscoll – 5th District Councilor. We talk about his work on lead paint, permits for live music, Fair Maps CNY, and Flip the County Legislature. I hope you enjoy.