Category Archives: Interviews

“We are getting about a thousand forms a day over the last month and it is ramping up toward the end of the deadline. With DMVs and voter registration events closed all summer a lot of the registration that would have happened last year is happening now.” https://cnycentral.com/news/local/deadline-to-register-to-vote-in-ny-is-friday-heres-how-to-register

Czarny says the biggest mistakes you should avoid when sending your absentee ballot is either sending it in late or not signing the back of the ballot.“The biggest thing is coming in late, not being postmarked by November 3rd. The second biggest reason is not signing the back of the ballot (envelope) and not sealingContinue reading “100k expected absentee ballots in Onondaga Co. won’t be fully counted until after election – CNYCentral.com”

Late last month, there was good news for Onondaga: It won $280,000 from the Zuckerberg-funded initiative, something county officials said would allow the temporary hiring of four additional employees, on top of the six the county had already hired for the sprint to November.“ It’s 12-hour days, 7 to 7, and we’ve pretty much toldContinue reading “N.Y. Voting Officials Need Money. They Were Told to Go to Zuckerberg. – NY Times”

“It’s better to be accurate than fast. You need to give us time and nothing is official until Michele and I sign the certificate on November 28,” says Czarny. https://cnycentral.com/news/local/heres-why-counting-absentee-ballots-will-potentially-delay-results-for-close-races

“The three major events of an absentee ballot: Getting the application, mailing the ballot and receiving the ballot back is what is shown on that tracker,” said Dustin Czarny, elections commissioner in Onondaga County. https://www.localsyr.com/news/your-local-election-hq/how-to-vote-correctly-using-an-absentee-ballot/

“Poll watchers are allowed to watch voters sign in, letting the watchers know who has voted, but they are not allowed to interact with voters, … Any observer who is not a certified poll watcher must remain at least 100 feet away from the poll entrance.” https://www.syracuse.com/news/2020/09/trump-urges-supporters-to-go-into-the-polls-and-watch-but-theyd-better-have-paperwork.html

“We’ve had the same system in place for absentee balloting since the 50s,” said Democratic Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny. “All we’re doing is having a different scale right now.” https://cnycentral.com/news/local/onondaga-county-elections-commissioners-assure-ballot-accuracy-this-november

“Like any piece of mail, the risk of it being delayed or not getting to us in time is always a problem. The 1st thing you could do is act early. Get it done now. Then we have plenty of time to figure out what happened to the mail if it doesn’t get here.”

“The easier we make it to vote, the more people tend to vote. We saw a record turnout for congressional primaries. This could help ensure that every voter who can cast a ballot will cast a ballot.” https://www.waer.org/politics-government/2020-09-28/how-many-ways-can-onondaga-county-vote-lets-count-them-with-your-election-blueprint

Who is voting so far in Onondaga County? “Democrats are returning their ballots early,” Czarny said. Of the votes cast so far, 839 were Democratic voters, 280 were Republicans and 228 were not affiliated with a party, he said. https://www.syracuse.com/politics/cny/2020/09/elections-2020-1400-people-in-onondaga-county-have-voted-and-its-still-september.html