According to Dustin M. Czarny, Onondaga County Elections Commissioner (D,)”By using state grants we can revolutionize the voter experience for Onondaga County voters as well as save tens of thousands of dollars annually in costs and worker hours. This will be a huge leap forward for Onondaga County”
Goodbye Ledgers! Onondaga County Voters Will Use Electronic Poll Books to Check-in – WAER
If it’s correct, commissioner Dustin Czarny says voters will use the tablet to sign their name.
“This is how our poll workers will verify, just like a paper poll book. They will then see what the signature is, make sure it is that person…same processes in place that we’ve had before.”
The reason for the “Poll Pads,” and their first real test, will be during nine days of early voting across the county starting October 26th.
“We can instantly download who voted in the early voting process, and make sure all of the 400 poll pads will be updated by Tuesday morning at 6 a.m. when the polls open. Then we can make sure no one can vote early, and vote on election day.”
Electronic Poll Book Demonstration – URBAN CNY News
I did a poll book demonstration introducing our Knowink Poll Pads for URBAN CNY News
Eye on NY Podcast: Early voting and more (with Dustin Czarny)
I talk about Early Voting with Robert Harding of Auburn Citizen on his podcast.
Vernon Williams, Bill Kinne declared winners of Onondaga County legislator primaries – Syracuse.com
The mistake did not affect the outcome of either race since the final margins of victory exceeded 18 votes, they said.
“If the race comes within 18 votes, then that’s something they have a decision to make, whether to go to court or not,’’ Czarny said.
Sardo and Czarny said they are still investigating details of how the error occurred so that it can be prevented in the future.
Vernon Williams, Bill Kinne declared winners of Onondaga County legislator primaries – syracuse.com
On primary day, concern of lower voter turnout in Onondaga County – WRVO
“The difference with this primary is, it’s a much smaller scale in terms of race,” Czarny said. “You only have the city of Syracuse. It’s not a full countywide primary. And with the election shift, there could be a slight downturn in turnout as we get used to this new calendar. We’re prepared for a high turnout, but we won’t be surprised with a lower one.”
Commissioner in a Car: Last Minute Primary Tips
Polls open noon to 9pm. No passive electioneering in polling places. Www.onvote.net or call 315 435 VOTE for information.
https://www.facebook.com/dustinmczarny/videos/2118457965114551
Onondaga County getting ready to switch to electronic pollbooks -WSYR9
“To man the poll sites better, it’s going to allow us to get better data on election day, and most importantly, it’s going to allow us to save thousands of dollars each election,” said Dustin Czarny, Onondaga County Democratic Elections Commissioner.
Election Reforms Best ‘in Decades’ say Election Officials on Eve of Primary – WAER
“Allowing people to change their party so they can vote in the presidential primary next year; allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to preregister now, so when they turn 18 they can vote; and also people move from county to county, and if they’re not able to make the registration window, they can go and vote by affidavit ballot.”
NY legislative session begins, ends with historic election reform
The 2019 session of the New York State Legislature has now come to a close. The new unified Democratic government led by Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie and Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, along with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, promised swift and substantial actions on long-dormant election reforms. They delivered on that promise with the most consequential session for election reform in decades. Reforms were enacted to make it easier to register and vote, to give aid to counties, to make it easier for students to participate in our democracy, to strengthen our campaign finance laws and to upgrade our election infrastructure.
In New York, election reform used to move at a glacial pace. This year we saw a virtual flood of legislation.
Election Reform was a part of the first day of session and continued throughout the year as members in both houses worked to fix New York’s antiquated election laws. They listened to activists and election professionals and put the needs of New York’s 9 million voters at the front of every decision. The laws passed this session will transform New York state. The reforms citizens will see most dramatically at the polls this year are:
Early voting: New York will be the 39th state to have a form of early voting starting this general election. Nine days and two full weekends will be available in every county for the convenience of voters.
Unified June primary: New York will no longer be the only state in the nation with a separate federal and local primary. Moving to a unified primary in June will not only save approximately $25 million statewide, it will allow the voters more time between primary and general election to make informed decisions.https://024cf51d93f28489a175aab9aa2318bf.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html?n=0
Party enrollment date change: No longer will voters have to change their parties almost 11 months ahead of a primary. On or before Feb. 14 of each year, a voter can choose to fall in love with the party of their choice by enrolling in that party, and be eligible to vote in the primary later in June.
Electronic poll books and on-demand ballot printing: This was essential for making early voting work, but will also help on Election Day. This technology upgrade will save thousands of dollars for each Board of Election by eliminating printing costs, as well as overtime by staff, with hundreds of staff hours saved each election.
Universal transfers of registrations: No longer will voters who move right before an election have to waste time on court orders or risk having their affidavit vote not counted. In our mobile and modern society, this change can save the votes of thousands of voters statewide.
In addition to these reforms, in 2020, pre-registration of 16- and 17-year-olds and the Voter Friendly Ballot Act will be enacted; in 2021, online voter registration will be added, and the process was started for constitutional amendments that will enact same-day registration and no excuse absentees by 2022. The Legislature also acted to make it easier for students at SUNY and CUNY schools to register and vote, and to close the LLC loophole, which will strengthen our campaign finance laws. They also ended the session with a commitment to bring Automatic Voter Registration to a vote in early 2020 for implementation in 2021. Lastly, they funded early voting in 2019 with direct operational grants and grants for conversion to electronic poll books.
As elections commissioners, we are committed and excited to be enacting these reforms in 2019 and beyond. The leadership of Heastie, Stewart-Cousins and Cuomo has made it possible to transform the electoral landscape of New York state. We look forward to their support and leadership throughout the rest of 2019 and can’t wait to see what the 2020 session will bring for the voters of the Empire State.
Dustin M. Czarny 