Early voting kicks off this weekend and runs through November 6. Polls in Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Oswego and Onondaga counties open at 9 a.m. Saturday.
The Onondaga County Board of Elections is preparing for high voter turnout as early voting begins for the 2022 midterm elections.
“We'll be prepared for as much as the voters want to throw at us,” Onondaga County County Democratic Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny said. “I think we have to recognize that we live in a hyper-partisan time, and the Federal elections in 2018 were much higher turnout than we normally see in the midterm – slightly below presidential levels. I believe that’s what we’re going to see this year.”
Czarny said absentee ballot requests are similar to 2018 numbers. Voters casting their ballot absentee must be postmarked or returned to their county board of elections by November 8.
Grant Reeher, director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute at Syracuse University, said having the balance of power in congress is up for grabs may also drive voter turnout from both parties.
“You've certainly got the Supreme Court decision in the summer overturning Roe v. Wade on abortion rights, and that has energized a lot of the Democratic base,” Reeher said. “On the Republican side, certainly there are deep concerns about inflation, the economy, worries about the economy still slipping into a recession.”
Many Democrats have continued to campaign on abortion access since Roe v. Wade was overturned this summer. With New York having codified that right into law, Reeher said it might not be as big of a factor that Democrats hope it could be.
“Historically, when you have concerns about inflation, when you have concerns about your job and your livelihood and things that you are living every single day, no matter who you are, those kinds of things can often drive votes more than something that is seen as important for a lot of people, but can remain somewhat abstract depending on what your own life experiences are and what your own living situation is,” Reeher said. “I think if the Democrats are relying on that, I think they may have miscalculated.”
To see early voting locations and times in your county, and to see who is on the ballot, visit our online election guide.
