Category Archives: Interviews

“Election mail is going to be treated as first-class mail,” Dustin Czarny with the Onondaga County Board of Elections said. https://cnycentral.com/news/local/election-officials-working-to-make-sure-absentee-ballots-get-counted

It was postmarked eight days after we dropped it in a mailbox in the town of Van Buren. We talked with Onondaga County Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny after the last piece of mail arrived with a late postmark. That raised alarms for the Commissioner. “If it was postmarked after Election Day,” said Czarny. “We wouldContinue reading “UPDATE: Missing envelope from CNYCentral’s USPS test located – CNYCentral.com”

Democratic Onondaga County Board of Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny welcomed the test as elections workers prepare for an expected record volume of absentee ballots being cast for President and Congressional races this fall. “I believe in two things” said Czarny. “The system does work as it is now. But, also if it didn’t I wantContinue reading “Amid mail-in vote controversy, CNYCentral puts U.S. Postal Service to the test – CNYCentral.com”

“This is the wave of the future,” Onondaga County Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny said. “We have a Constitutional Amendment that will make mail-in ballots no-excuse like it is in 34 other states. So, I believe this is something we’re going to be doing a lot more, and I believe we’re ready for it.” https://www.localsyr.com/news/your-local-election-hq/election-reforms-signed-into-law-by-governor/

“Recruiting personnel to actually physically count ballots is probably the hardest part of our recruiting personnel,” said Dustin Czarny, an elections commissioner in Onondaga County and chair of the Democratic Caucus of the New York State Elections Commissioners Association, in an interview. “They need more training and more expertise than, say, a normal election inspectorContinue reading “Can New York Officials Deliver November Election Results in a Timely Fashion? – Gotham Gazette”

Dustin Czarny, the Onondaga County Board of Elections Commissioner, says, “We are preparing for five times the number of absentees that we got in June to be ready for November.” This year, there will be a hefty load for the few people at the Board of Elections who usually work on absentee ballots.“ We areContinue reading “Onondaga County Board of Elections prepares for record breaking number of absentee ballots – CNYCentral.com”

“That would be a major issue,” said Dustin Czarny, an Onondaga County elections commissioner. “I can’t stress how much of an issue that would be. How else would we know the ballots were properly deposited by the date they were due?” Central New York mail delivery slows as sorting machines are tossed, unions say –Continue reading “Central New York mail delivery slows as sorting machines are tossed, unions say – Syracuse.com”

Onondaga County elections commissioner Dustin Czarny says there’s another solution: If you’re voting by absentee, vote as early as possible. “If you’re ready to vote and not waiting until the last minute, you should submit that ballot,” Czarny said. https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/ny-state-of-politics/2020/08/17/postal-service-faces-funding-fight

“The general election, the extra cost of absentees is going to be five times what we had in the primary and we don’t have any money to pay for that right now, which means it’s going to be a burden on the local boards of elections,” Czarny said. https://www.wrvo.org/politics-and-government/2020-08-13/boards-of-elections-need-more-funding-expect-lots-of-absentee-ballots-in-november

Onondaga County Democratic Board of Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny said many of the county’s regular election inspectors have decided not to work this year. He said even more people are needed this year to help ensure proper sanitation at polling places. https://cnycentral.com/news/local/onondaga-co-board-of-elections-recruiting-community-members-as-election-inspectors