On August 13, Onondaga County Election Commissioner Dustin Czarny met with the CNY Solidarity Coordinating Committee. He described the work that the Board Of Elections is doing to ensure this year’s Midterm Election is conducted as smoothly as possible. He shared a great deal of very useful information:
Election Security & Threat Response
- Current Alert Level: The team is on high alert; coordination is underway with the city police department and Onondaga County Sheriff to ensure rapid response capability.
- Recent Incident Assessment:
- A recent polling place incident appears to have been targeted at a specific poll worker, not the polling center itself.
- The individual traveled from New Jersey and entered the polling place, which is not considered a targeted attack on the election infrastructure.
- Statewide Contingency Plans:
- Regular meetings are being held with a statewide task force involving the Attorney General’s office.
- Hotlines and response protocols are in place at both the NY State Board of Elections and the AG’s office.
- The ICE polling place incident served as a catalyst to formalize rapid-escalation procedures; the AG’s office was notified within the hour.
- Access Control at Polling Sites:
- Only authorized individuals are permitted inside polling places: election workers, candidates (brief visits), authorized poll watchers, and voters (plus their assistants).
- Citizens and volunteers may monitor activity outside the 100-foot mark and should report any concerns immediately to the Board of Elections or a poll site manager.
- Post-Election Legal Threats:
- Seizure of ballots or equipment is not considered a credible threat at this time, as it would require court-issued warrants.
- Litigation is the more likely post-election challenge; however, New York has a strong track record — nearly all 60+ post-2020 court cases nationally were dismissed.
- New York’s bipartisan commissioner structure provides an additional safeguard against unilateral misconduct.
- Citizens can participate in post-election legal proceedings by filing as interested third parties or submitting amicus briefs.
Mail Ballot Process & USPS Concerns
- Key Issue — USPS Dysfunction:
- Mail delivery delays are widespread and affect not just election offices but banks, DHS, and other high-volume mailers.
- All local mail is now routed through a Rochester facility, causing local deliveries to take 5–6 days or more.
- A ballot mailed on Election Day risks arriving after the 7-day post-election deadline and may not be counted.
- Mail Ballot Timeline:
- Ballots are mailed out 40 days before the election (starting September 18th).
- Ballots received by the Sunday before Election Day are included in election night totals.
- Ballots postmarked by Election Day are counted up to 7 days after the election.
- How Voters Can Bypass the Post Office:
- Apply online via the web portal (onvote.net) — 90% of applicants already use this method; ballots are processed the next day.
- Walk into the Board of Elections office starting September 18th, fill out a mail ballot, and drop it off on the spot.
- Drop completed ballots at early voting sites (blue bins available; voters can skip the line).
- A family member or trusted individual can drop off ballots for others — no limit on the number of ballots for drop-off, as long as each ballot is signed by the respective voter.
- Agent Pickup Rules (Tricky):
- An authorized agent can pick up ballots on behalf of others but is limited to 5 ballots per day (24-hour processing window required after application submission).
- Up to 30 applications can be submitted at once, but pickup remains capped at 5 per day.
- Every ballot and application must be signed by the voter themselves (no POAs or proxy signatures).
Voter Registration & Affidavit Ballots
- What Triggers an Affidavit Ballot:
- A voter shows up at the polls but has moved and their address is not updated in the system.
- A voter has been marked inactive due to returned USPS mail check cards.
- Inactive Voter Issue:
- USPS has been returning an unusually high volume of mail as “undeliverable” this year, causing legitimate voters to be incorrectly marked inactive (e.g., a former city auditor who has lived at the same address for 30 years).
- Voters marked inactive are still offered an affidavit ballot, which will count — approximately 90% of affidavit ballots are counted.
- Voters can reactivate their registration by submitting an absentee application or calling the Board of Elections before Election Day.
- Recommendation: Encourage all members to check their voter registration status at onvote.net before Election Day.
Ballot Security & Counting Process
- All Ballots Are Paper: There are no electronic ballots in New York. All ballots — whether cast in person, at early voting sites, or by mail — are paper and scanned electronically.
- Recounts: If a race is within 0.5%, every ballot is hand-counted (physical inspection, not re-scan).
- Retention: All ballots are kept for two years.
- Onondaga County Specifics: Hand-marked paper ballots are used exclusively and will remain so under the current commissioner.
Poll Workers
Training classes are ongoing through September, with additional classes likely to be added in October.
Poll site manager classes are scheduled through September 15th, with likely extensions.
Both poll worker and poll site manager roles need to be filled.