Ballot counting halted after 8 staff members test positive for COVID-19

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The Onondaga County Board of Elections has paused counting absentee ballots until Nov. 30 after several staff members tested positive for the coronavirus.

The board closed the office and stopped counting ballots Friday after the first staff member tested positive, said Dustin Czarny, the Democratic Board of Elections commissioner, at a press conference.

As of Monday morning, there are eight confirmed cases of COVID-19 among board of elections staff, Czarny said. All staff, including those who already tested negative, are now in quarantine.

“We are essential workers and we hope to be cleared to go back to work sometime Monday next week,” Czarny said. “What that means is we will not be doing the absentee ballot count.”

The Onondaga County Health Department is currently testing over 100 staff members who had close contacts with those who tested positive, Czarny said. Both Czarny and Republican commissioner Michele Sardo have tested negative for the virus.

The race for the 127th Assembly District has yet to be called. As of Friday, Democrat Assemblyman Al Stirpe had a lead over Republican Mark Venesky. Stirpe got 4,319 additional votes from absentee ballots in Onondaga County while Venesky got 2071 more votes.

Rep. John Katko (R-Camlius) declared victory in the race for New York’s 24th Congressional District and Sen. Rachel May (D-Syracuse) won re-election for New York’s 53rd State Senate District.

The board is awaiting approval from the state for a plan to submit partial results for the presidential election on Nov. 28 and resume the ballot count on Nov. 30, which would allow all staff members to complete their quarantine period or recover from the virus before returning to work.

“We don’t know a lot of things going forward,” Czarny said. “We’re still dealing with the circumstances that are unprecedented, which seems to be the theme for 2020.”