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An estimated 30% to 31% of Onondaga County voters turned in ballots during the 2021 elections, the lowest rate since 2015, Onondaga County Elections Commissioner Dustin Czarny tweeted. Turnout had grown each year for the last four elections up until this point, he said.

Voters reelected Ben Walsh as Syracuse mayor and kept the current slate of County Legislators in power. One office that did change hands was the 1st District Common Council seat, as Democrat Jennifer Schultz won the seat that Republican Joe Carni — who did not run for re-election — formerly held. Two Democrats were also elected to vacant at-Large seats on the Common Council.

The 30% countywide turnout was about 5% less than in 2017, the last mayoral election. Despite lower overall turnout, early voting increased in recent years. This election, 9,727 people voted early, a 2.6% increase over the proportion of early votes in 2019, when 8,462 people voted early. 

Czarny said he expects the early vote proportion to continue rising going forward, as absentee ballots will no longer be as easy to apply for as previous elections. In 2020 and 2021, New York state allowed voters to use the risk of COVID-19 as an excuse to vote absentee, which will likely not be the case going forward. 

This year, 5,389 people voted absentee, according to the county board of elections. Those ballots will be counted starting Nov. 16.

Proposition Four, the New York Constitution amendment which would allow no-excuse absentee voting in New York, did not pass on Tuesday’s ballot. About 56% of voters statewide voted against the proposal.

The Democratic party launched an organized effort to flip seats on the legislature this year, putting up a candidate for every seat. But at the end of election night, no seats will change hands. 

“This is substantially low turnout that had Republicans do well in the areas they had power and Democrats do well in Syracuse (except mayor), Dewitt and Manlius,” Czarny said on Twitter. “In many ways, this is a status quo election locally. However, these races continue and we will count every vote.”

Published on November 3, 2021 at 11:58 pm

Contact Nick: nickrobertson@dailyorange.com | @NickRobertsonSU