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Early Voting was More Popular than Last Local Election Drawing Almost 10,000

WAER | By Miles Hood

Published November 1, 2021 at 12:20 PM EDT

Set-up for Early Voting at the Dewitt Town Hall. Early voting wrapped up this weekend after 10 days.

Early voting in Onondaga county wrapped up on Sunday as voters made their choices for a range of local races. turnout over the 10-day period exceeded the last non-presidential election.

There was a steady flow of people at early polling sites in Dewitt and Syracuse Polling during the final day of Early Voting Sunday. Several people told WAER News about their reasons not to wait until election day to cast their ballots.

“Well, I always vote and it's just convenient. And hopefully there'll be less of a crowd today than there will be on Tuesday,” said one voter at the Dewitt Town Hall.

Another wanted to take the opportunity to make sure their choices are counted.

“Oh, boy, I just feel like the democracy is under assault, especially our right to vote.”

Voters also told us that having the week to vote ahead of election night made it easier on them.

A steady stream of people took advantage of the last day of early voting in Onondaga County.

Onondaga County currently has 6 early voting sites across the county. Syracuse Polling Site Manager Joe Molano says the turnout has been greater this year than years past

“People are now getting to know that early voting is a good thing instead of just doing whatever they (used to) do. More people are familiar with it. So, it's becoming more popular.

And he ultimately believes it increases participation.

“I think it has a great impact. It gets a lot of people out that don’t have a chance to get out and vote during regular voting sessions. So, it allows more people to vote … vote once and then its done and over with,” said Molano.

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Onondaga County Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny says over 1300 people voted Sunday at the 6 sites, the largest turnout of any day this year. The total reported by the Board of Elections was 9727 voters over all sites for the 10 days. Election officials are planning for more early voting locations in 2022, when voters will be choosing a new Governor and members of congress. If so, we might be seeing an increased number of people come out to vote before Election Day.