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Minutes after the polls opened across Syracuse on Tuesday morning, voters at some polling places were already waiting in lines out the door. 

Voting centers across Onondaga County opened at 6 a.m. and will remain open until 9 p.m. 

Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud was one of the first people in line to vote at SU’s Huntington Hall on Tuesday. This election is of particular importance to the futures of students and young adults, he said. 

“This is the most important election I can remember,” Syverud said. “I think this going to be so important for them.”

Patrick Kenny, an environmental studies major at SUNY-ESF, came to Huntington Hall to cast a ballot for Democratic nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden. He didn’t know how long the line would be later in the day, so he woke up early to vote.

None of the voters at the Huntington Hall polling location had cast their ballots as of 6:40 a.m. The machine used to print the ballots wasn’t working, a poll worker said.

Leonard Shuler, a Syracuse resident waiting to vote at Huntington Hall, was disappointed in the technical glitch with the ballot printing machines.

“They should’ve made sure they worked before they put them in here,” Shuler said. “A lot of people are going through a lot of changes to get here and vote. Some people have to go back to work, some people have to get babysitters, some people (are) taking care of the elderly, and they want to come here and vote and go take care of the rest of their business.”

As of 6:55 a.m., the machines were working properly.

J.J. Hayes, a Syracuse resident who’s originally from Texas, also woke up early to make sure his vote was counted at Huntington Hall. 

“Even though we’re in a state like New York where it’s going to be voting solidly Democratic, I still think that I have a democratic duty to exercise my right to vote,” Hayes said. “This election is way too important to just rely on polls and just say that I don’t need to vote.” 

Though he had some concerns about the recent increase in cases of the coronavirus in Onondaga County, Hayes felt comfortable voting in person given the social distancing protocols at the polling center. 

James Boyd, a Syracuse resident, came out to vote at the Spiritual Renewal Center polling place on Lancaster Avenue before he started work at 8 a.m. Lines at the center had reached the parking lot by about 6:15 a.m. 

Early voting for the general election started Oct. 24 and ran until Sunday. As of Sunday afternoon, nearly 3 million New York residents had already cast their ballots. About 2.5 million people voted early in person while almost 850,000 sent in their ballots by mail.

Of the 308,296 registered voters in Onondaga County, more than 111,000 cast their ballots early in-person or through absentee ballot, according to the county’s board of elections.

Residents who have not yet mailed their ballots can still drop them off at a polling place on Election Day.

Published on November 3, 2020 at 6:36 am

Contact Michael: msessa@syr.edu | @MichaelSessa3