“When you make it easier for people to vote, they will do it more,” said Dustin Czarny, Onondaga County Board of Elections commissioner. In Central New York, more mail-in voting has helped cause a rise in voting in the primary next Tuesday, Czarny said. Voting is up 10 to 30 times when compared to a typical Congressional primary, he said.

https://www.syracuse.com/schools/2020/06/voting-soars-in-cny-school-budget-votes-mail-in-voting-increases-turnout-by-3-to-8-times.html

“This is an incredible number considering we usually only get 18,000-20,000 voters, inclusive of every style of voting,” Czarny said. “There is a lot of interest in this election and there is a lot of interest in voting absentee in this election.”

https://www.wrvo.org/politics-and-government/2020-06-17/absentee-ballots-could-boost-record-breaking-turnout-for-june-primary-in-central-ny

“it’s safer now and more sure now than it’s ever been because we’ve implemented technology like electronic poll books and centralized systems we can easily detect if somebody double votes,” Czarny said.

https://cnycentral.com/news/local/onondaga-county-sees-surge-in-mail-in-ballots-for-primary-election

Democratic elections commissioner Dustin Czarny says normally, primary elections have a lower voter turnout.

“That being said, we’ve seen an incredible amount of activity on the absentee side. So I do expect a higher turnout election, but whether that’s an in-person vote or an absentee vote, that’s yet to be determined,” Czarny said.

Early voting underway for primaries

The change is part of officials’ efforts to stop the spread of the coronavirus, said Onondaga County Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny.

Before Covid-19, the county used about 20 nursing homes or senior living facilities as polling places. Seniors are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus. Nursing homes still do not allow visitors in New York.

So those polling places have temporarily changed, Czarny said today. Registered voters should have received a letter noting the change.

2020 NY elections: Did your polling place change? It’s a coronavirus precaution – syracuse.com

“Dustin Czarny, who serves as Onondaga County’s Democratic elections commissioner, said the board is still receiving as many as 600 application requests a day. “It’s unprecedented, so we don’t know what this means for turnout,” Czarny said. “

https://auburnpub.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/election-boards-in-cayuga-onondaga-counties-encouraged-by-absentee-ballot-returns/article_5e6edb8c-1916-5038-a9aa-c39035ef4792.html

NewsChannel 9 spoke with Onondaga County Democratic Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny on Tuesday, June 9 about the upcoming June Primary. Click the video below to watch the full interview.

Early voting for New York Primary starts Saturday, June 13