Election 2016

Onondaga County Board of Elections commissioner says voters turned away at polling stations didn’t follow instructions

Sam Ogozalek | Staff Writer

There were reports of people being turned away at polls on Tuesday, but the Onondaga County Board of Elections Commissioner said it was most likely because registration instructions were not followed properly.

Several voters in Syracuse have reported they were turned away at polling stations on Election Day.

About 50 people who went to vote in Onondaga County said they were turned away from the polls because of paperwork getting lost, according to a Syracuse.com article. These people then went to the Election Court at the Onondaga County Board of Elections, where they had the chance to have their cases heard.

College students, new United States citizens and parolees were among those who ran into this problem, according to Syracuse.com.

Helen Kiggins Walsh, the Onondaga County Board of Elections Commissioner, told The Daily Orange most of those voters did not follow the instructions properly. She said they possibly missed their registration deadline or they thought they would be eligible to cast their votes in Onondaga County even though they may be registered in a different county.

Walsh, one of two commissioners for Onondaga County, said the Election Court is hearing cases all day Tuesday and granting most of appeals to allow people to vote.







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