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Tune into WAER this election season for comprehensive coverage of local and statewide races. It's the information you'll need to make educated decisions on the races that could have an impact on your life.

Take a Look at the Start of Absentee Ballot Review and Counting in Onondaga County

The process of counting 57,000 absentee ballots has begun in Onondaga County, something that could take until this time next week.  WAER News stopped by the Board of Elections on day one to see how the process works.

Some of the first absentee ballots of this election are scanned after dozens of elections workers and campaign volunteers methodically inspect each envelope, open it, then review each ballot.  Democratic Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny says common problem is a circle or other writing outside the voter box.

Credit Scott Willis / WAER News
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WAER News
One of the large rooms where absentee ballot reviewing and counting takes place.

"That's the most perilous mark that will throw out an entire ballot.  There have beens some objections to signatures, but we've already verified these signatures against our voter rolls.  Unless they take it to court and a judge says that person isn't that person, we're going to count those votes."

Czarny says most objections are from campaigns that might not be up to speed on new voting laws.

"The signature objections...we do a good faith bipartisan comparison already with the assumption of validity.  Sometimes partisans have the assumption of invalidity, and that doesn't always bear out in the courts."

About 100 people are spread out at dozens of tables across three large rooms, with one election worker and one observer from each party at each table.  County Republican Party Chair Benedicte Doran says she’s been busy coordinating and overseeing her volunteers.

"A lot of work goes into doing that.  Originally, we had 20 tables that needed 20 volunteers per day.  There's a lot of variables and COVID restrictions.  It's just making sure everyone knows what's going on, and we actually had exactly the right number of people show up today."

Credit Scott Willis / WAER News
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WAER News
A board of Elections worker holds up a ballot for observers to inspect.

One of them was republican assembly candidate Mark Venesky.  About 20,000 absentee ballots will determine the outcome of the 127th district race with incumbent Al Stirpe.  GOP Elections Commissioner Michele Sardo seemed pleased with Venesky’s participation.

"I like to see candidates here.  It's usually volunteers from the campaigns.  You'll find some attorneys here.  It's very interesting to see candidates.  You don't see it very often.  When they do show up, it's very exciting to see they're just as involved."

Other contests hinging on absentee ballot count include the 24th congressional district, where John Katko holds a comfortable lead over Dana Balter.  Then there’s 53rd senate district race between incumbent Rachel May and republican challenger Sam Rodgers, and the 50th senate district race between Angi Renna and John Mannion.  Officials hope to process 6,000 to 10,000 ballots per day, barring slowdowns by campaigns. 

You can track their progress here.  Some results are posted daily around 4 p.m., followed by another update later in the evening.  

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.