With Election Day just over a month away, the Onondaga County Board of Elections is making preparations.
They said they are busy preparing for what they expect to be a larger than normal turnout for an election year.
“We’ve already seen a big surge and we are trying to get all of those voter registrations entered and updated,” said Dustin Czarny, the Onondaga County Democratic elections commissioner.
“We’re sending our absentees, a few hundred today, and we’re preparing our machines to be deployed out to start early voting,” said Michele Sardo, the Republican elections commissioner said.
Czarny said the Board of Elections expects turnout this year to be higher than normal.
“2018 we saw 67% voter turnout because it acted more like a presidential year and I personally think this year is going to be similar,” he said.
Sardo agrees.
“I think we’re going to have a high turnout, I’m going to guess between 65 and 70%,” she said.
They said this is due in part to the magnitude of the issues people say are drawing them to the polls this year.
“We’re in a phase of national elections where there’s higher voter intensity and that’ll drive turnout,” Czarny said.
An exclusive Spectrum News/Siena College poll of voters in New York’s 22nd Congressional District, which includes primarily Onondaga, Madison, Oneida counties, found that the top four issues concerning voters are the economy at 61%, threats to democracy at 30%, abortion at 26% and crime at 24%.
The commissioners said another factor is the closely watched congressional race between Republican Brandon Williams and Democrat Francis Conole in the 22nd District — the poll finding Williams leading his Democratic opponent 45% to 40%.
Both commissioners said that along with the issues, and a contested governor's race in New York, have them preparing for that big turnout.
“It’s a contested race for governor, as well as we also have the 22nd Congressional District, which is very contested,” Sardo said.
Czarny said turnout in the region may not only be large, it may be definitive in that key congressional race as well.
“The margins in the House are, might run right through Central New York. It may be the seat that decides who controls the House, so I think we will see some intensity in turnout,” Czarny said.
The Spectrum News/Siena College poll found that when it comes to the governor’s race, 47% of voters in the 22nd District support Republican Lee Zelden while 44% support Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is seeking a full term.
Election Day is Nov. 8.