Will the Absentee Ballots Make a Difference?

The campaigning is finished and the votes have been cast, but the Board of Elections is still at work after a smooth day at the polls.

To avoid repeating problems from last year, Oneida County Board of Elections Republican Commissioner Pamela Mandryck says the board took a few key steps. "Our inspectors were trained much more substantially some had many training sessions as opposed to just one," Mandryck says. And she says it seems as if most voters are comfortable with the new machines and ballots so far. Yesterday we spoke with poll workers who all felt that it was a busy election year, more so than usual, but Mandryck says although it was good, the turnout was typical for the general election.

But one voter and poll worker we spoke with today had a different reaction than most. "It was good but nothing compared to the names we have in the book, says Barbara Barcomb, "I mean we may have had 350 but the book says 800.  So to me that's not a good turnout."

As for absentee ballots, they could still play a role in the final results, and some voters we spoke with, including Barcomb, are hoping they will.  Mandryck says there were almost 400 absentee ballots sent out in the City of Rome, and so far they've received 280 back. In Utica, almost 1,000 were sent out, and they've received 720 at this point.  Mandryck says typically absentee ballots trend the same way the walk in votes do, although anything is possible.  She says military absentee ballots can be accepted until the November 21st, so the soonest they could have official results is the 22nd.