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Early Voting in Onondaga County, NYS Enjoying a Successful Launch with Appreciative Voters

Moriah Humiston/WAER News

Early voting sites around Onondaga County are seeing steady traffic now a week into the inaugural project.  The East Suburb location in Dewitt saw about 150 people by lunchtime today, according to poll workers. 

One of them was Bill Leiker of Jamesville.

“It’s definitely more convenient, yes.  It’s nice that you can go anytime.  I had the day off of work and I had to reserve something with Town Hall so I could just vote.”

 He explains the barcode on his driver’s license was all that was need to get him the correct ballot.  Nancy Waters got in early … and is seeing some of her neighbors take advantage as well.

“I’m from Fayetteville, New York and I voted early last week.  And it was a great experience.  It was easy; it was quick.  And actually I just finished in a chorus, singing and a couple of my fellow chorus members are voting early right now.” 

She enjoyed not having to wait in any lines.  Max Ruckdeschel was one of today’s polling inspectors.

“We’ve had about 150 people already voted today.  It’s been pretty steady.  Everyone that’s come in for early voting has appreciated the possibility of being able to do it.  Some people actually said that they specifically wanted to early vote to be supportive of the process.”  

This is the first year of Early Voting.  You can still take advantage tomorrow and Sunday.  There are six places in Onondaga County, open 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. this weekend for those who don’t want to wait until Election Day on Tuesday.  

EARLY VOTING LOCATIONS: ONONDAGA COUNTY

  • CLAY TOWN HALL COURTROOM (rear entrance)
    4401 Route 31, Clay NY  13041
  • DEWITT TOWN HALL COURTROOM
    5400 Butternut Drive, E. Syracuse NY  13057 
  • LAFAYETTE FIRE STATION #1 (rear entrance)
    2444 Route 11 South, LaFayette NY  13084
  • ARMOND MAGNARELLI COMMUNITY CENTER AT MCCHESNEY PARK
    2300 Grant Blvd, Syracuse NY 13208
  • SOUTHWEST COMMUNITY CENTER
    401-425 South Ave, Syracuse NY  13204
  • VAN BUREN TOWN HALL
    7575 Van Buren Road, Baldwinsville, NY  13027

EARLY VOTING REACTIONS STATEWIDE

Over 130,000 New Yorkers have already voted in the November elections, as part of the state’s first ever early voting system. And those who are closely watching, say so far, it’s been a largely successful roll out.

Ralph Carter was among those casting their ballots early, in the city of Rochester.

I’m so glad that this law was passed,” Carter said.

Kristen French, also voting in downtown Rochester, said she even went a little out of her way to participate.

It was slightly inconvenient because I normally would not come down here, I would go walk across the street to my voting place,"  French said. “But I wanted, just mainly, to be a part of the process.”

Credit Karen DeWitt / WXXI News
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WXXI News

The early voting began October 26th and continues through Sunday, November 3. The process differs from county to county.  In some counties, there are several polling places available for voters to go to.  A few counties have assigned polling sites.  And in 34 counties with smaller populations, there is just one polling site.  All voters can cast their ballot at their county board of elections offices.  Many counties for the first time are using electronic poll books to keep track of voters, and new high tech printers to quickly produce ballots    

Jennifer Wilson, with the League of Women Voters, says so far, so good.

"I’m pretty pleased so far with the results,” Wilson said. “Even with the new machinery, it seems like things have been running smoothly."

She says even in case where people have had to wait a bit, they have not become irritated.

They don’t mind waiting,” Wilson said. “They are excited just to vote early for the first time.”

Susan Lerner, with the government reform group Common Cause, has been observing early voting in New York City, and she says she has not heard of any major issues.

They are the kind of things we would expect to see at the very beginning of using new technology,” said Lerner. “And the great thing about early voting is that if you have a problem in the morning, you have time to fix it. You don’t have to worry about disenfranchising any voters."

Common Cause and the League of Women Voters say the law does need some tweaks. They say many of the  counties with just one early voting place are rural and relatively large, and voters may have to drive too far just to vote.

Lerner says the counties who have assigned voters just one polling spot should make more sites available in future elections.

We hope all New York counties will do what most of the  counties do,” Lerner said. “Which is that a voter can go to any early voting site in their county.”

Wilson says there should be a requirement that a polling site be located in the largest urban area in that county.

Rensselaer County decided not to include a polling site in the city of Troy, and located its two locations in a suburban and a rural area.

“We’re definitely going to push to have them in those cities,” Wilson said. “So that people who don’t have access to transportation or younger people who are students can access those sites.”

Wilson says the League of Women Voters has a survey on its web site asking voters about their experiences, and what they might like to see done differently. She says over 700 voters have already responded, and all but two say they’d vote early again. 

More voters are expected to take advantage of early voting over the weekend.

The groups say they hope this fall’s early voting success so far means that the state will be prepared for the high profile elections in 2020. They include the Presidential primary in April, and the general election in November.

Chris Bolt, Ed.D. has proudly been covering the Central New York community and mentoring students for more than 30 years. His career in public media started as a student volunteer, then as a reporter/producer. He has been the news director for WAER since 1995. Dedicated to keeping local news coverage alive, Chris also has a passion for education, having trained, mentored and provided a platform for growth to more than a thousand students. Career highlights include having work appear on NPR, CBS, ABC and other news networks, winning numerous local and state journalism awards.