State election officials were forced to intervene to avert a dangerous situation in which thousands of voters in a key Congressional district could be denied voting at polling places.
Onondaga County had to bring in nine workers from Albany this week to ease a backlog of about 20,000 voter registration forms and other paperwork, an issue the state Board of Elections called a “grave concern.” It is called.
It was the first time the state had to provide direct assistance to county election boards at the last minute.
The county is at the center of the hotly contested 22nd Congressional District race, pitting incumbent Republican Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.) against Democratic state Sen. John Mannion.
“With the assistance of the State Board of Elections, outstanding issues were resolved late yesterday. We remain on site today to assist with additional processing efforts,” a State BOE spokesperson said. said in a statement Thursday.
The paperwork started piling up after the Onondaga County Board of Elections transitioned to new software to manage voter registration, absentee voting and other functions after the June primary.
During this period, Vice President Kamala Harris replaced President Biden as the top Democratic candidate, and efforts to reach voters in battleground states have been stepped up.
Democratic Onondaga Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny said the county commission brought in additional staff to clear the backlog and completed about 80% of it by Monday, when the state cavalry arrived.
“We are pleased to be able to clear this backlog for Onondaga County voters. I am proud of our staff who have worked tirelessly over the past two months to achieve this goal, and we thank the New York State Board of Elections for their support. “There are,” Czarny told the Post.
But this was not the only disaster for the county election board. Czarny acknowledged that 188 people who requested mail-in ballots for the June primary were mistakenly re-mailed to the general.
“We are contacting each voter by mail and using every means of record to inform them of their rights to ensure they can properly vote in this election,” Czarny said. said.
“You can fill out an application and vote by mail, or you can vote in person on Election Day or at a machine at an early voting location,” he continued.
“We have flagged these voters in our system and will take special care to ensure their rights are protected.”
The election commission's failure caused flashbacks to 2020. At the time, courts took several months after Election Day to resolve the 22nd CD's voting objections, which were then redistricted to include Onondaga County.
Onondaga County, home to Syracuse, has the largest percentage of Democrats in the district currently represented by Williams.
Statistically, the central New York seat is Democrats' best chance to flip the Empire State.
The Cook Political Report rates the district as “lean Democratic,” making it the only Republican district in the nation to be rated as such.
