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With Election Day less than a week away, record numbers of Onondaga County residents have voted early and by mail.

The increased availability of mail-in and early voting, much of which resulted from changes to voting guidelines in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, could impact the outcome of the election and shape voting policies for years to come, experts told The Daily Orange.

As of Saturday, 5,019 people had voted in Onondaga County, data from the county’s Board of Elections shows. More than 308,000 people were registered to vote in Onondaga County as of Monday. 

The board has also processed 65,323 new voter registration applications since Sept. 8.

Nationwide, over 70 million Americans have already voted, just less than half the total number of voters in the 2016 election.

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Ethan Gormley, project coordinator for the New York Public Interest Research Group in Syracuse, said revised guidelines for early and mail-in voting have made voting more widely accessible, leading to the increased turnout.

“Obviously with the pandemic, everyone has been adapting,” Gormley said. “With mail-in voting, people don’t have to go anywhere, or miss work, or set up child care. It makes the process easier.”

In the past, registered voters needed a reason to request an absentee ballot to vote by mail. New York state, along with other states, has altered its rules this year to allow residents to cite concerns about contracting coronavirus as an excuse to vote by mail.

The expansion of mail-in voting has also created budget shortfalls for Boards of Elections across the state, leading some — including Onondaga County’s — to seek grant funding from a Mark Zuckerberg-backed nonprofit to cover the deficit.

Government officials should consider permanently easing restrictions on mail-in voting, Gormley said. Increased turnout ahead of election day is a sign that the relaxed requirements have allowed more people to cast their ballot, he said.

Though mail-in voting may not be familiar to many people, the mail-in process allows voters to take their time reviewing the ballot and deciding who they’d like to vote for, said Shana Garadian, an associate professor and chair of the political science department at SU.

Joan Durant, director of voter services for the League of Women Voters in Syracuse, was not surprised to hear that more people had voted by mail this year than in 2016. Durant, who voted early and in person, said the contentious nature of the election may also be compelling people to vote ahead of time.

“Unless you’re living under a rock, you have to understand there’s an election going on and people are tied to candidates,” Durant said. “We are here to vote people in, and vote people out.”

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In addition to increased mail-in and early voting numbers, Gormley also expects that student voters will turn out in high numbers this year. Expanded options for voting, coupled with aggressive campus get-out-the-vote campaigns — such as the NYPIRG voting drive Gormley helped organize at SU a few weeks ago — will likely mean student voting will increase.

“It was a really fun event,” Gormely said. “We helped students apply for absentee ballots and I think they’re excited to make a change.”

Published on October 27, 2020 at 10:56 pm