Category Archives: Interviews

NewsChannel 9 spoke with Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny and Elections Commissioner Michele Sardo on Wednesday about the changes coming to voting due to the pandemic.

“I think the governor made the right decision given the resources that local governments have right now,” Czarny said. “It’s a tough call. I know the candidates have expended resources. But those resources for voting contacts are going to serve them in the November election as well.” https://auburnpub.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/mixed-opinions-as-cuomo-cancels-auburn-area-ny-senate-special-election/article_c2faeab2-2d2a-554e-9181-b4f4cef6e6bc.html

Former Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders announced earlier this month that he had suspended his campaign. This cleared the way for former Vice President Joe Biden. NewsChannel 9 spoke with the Onondaga County Democratic Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny on Monday about the change:

“There are 1.2 million inactive voters in New York. These are people we don’t have proper addresses for, and their only option is to show up on Election Day,” Czarny said https://gothamist.com/news/ahead-june-primary-cuomo-directs-board-elections-mail-voters-absentee-ballot-applications

“It will help them be able to cast a ballot safely even if they’re unsure what they want to do. They can have a ballot mailed to them and still choose to vote in person,” said Onondaga County Democratic Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny. “People won’t have to choose between their health and exercising their democraticContinue reading “Onondaga County Board of Elections offers email applications for absentee ballots – Eagle News”

“The public is going to have to understand that the results are going to be delayed,” Czarny said. “We’re not going to know the results of these elections in total until seven, 10, 14 days after the elections, because we have until then to receive these absentee ballots.” https://login.politicopro.com/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fsubscriber.politicopro.com%2Farticle%2F2020%2F04%2Fnew-york-prepares-for-crash-course-in-voting-by-mail-1918195%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR2vyCf09vbZJZeAIgc8bZxvc7l9LLJZH1-l4fAnXr45a4i7fgWH1iIprqo

Czarny explains to NewsChannel 9 how it’s done in Onondaga County, “You can get a word document that you can download, or a fillable pdf, whatever is easier for you, save it, email it to absentee@ongov.net and we will then mail you out a ballot.” https://www.localsyr.com/news/local-news/anyone-can-get-an-absentee-ballot-for-june-voting-in-nys-and-its-as-easy-as-an-email/

Using more absentee ballots should reduce the number of people gathering to vote at polling places, according to Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny. https://cnycentral.com/news/local/absentee-ballot-voting-option-extended-to-all-ny-primary-election-voters

“The Governor’s actions to expand the reason for absentees to include the COVID-19 crisis and allow email applications for absentees was an important first step to protect voters for the June combined primaries,” said Onondaga County Board of Elections Co-Chairman Dustin Czarny. “The legislature now needs to act to ensure we have these protections inContinue reading “Legislature Urged To Codify Absentee Ballot Order -Spectrum News”

“Our association, the New York State Elections Commissioners Association, voted overwhelmingly to support these two pieces of legislation so we could then move forward, because we are getting more than double, more than triple the types of requests that we usually get,” said Czarny. https://www.wamc.org/new-york-news/2020-04-10/new-york-advocates-want-changes-to-elections-during-pandemic-permanent