In a squat, ashen building off Erie Boulevard West, employees shuffle papers, murmur and pace around a long, rectangular room.

Empty Diet Pepsi bottles and folders are scattered on desks in Dustin Czarny’s office. Two computers are running.

On Halloween, the Democratic elections commissioner for Onondaga County isn’t in costume. He is wearing a blue striped button-down shirt, with dress pants accompanied by a flapping tie.

“I can’t leave the counter today,” he says. Outside, a steady flow of voters picking up absentee ballots at the election headquarters continues.

For Czarny and the other workers at the Onondaga County Board of Elections, Oct. 31 is not the important day. Rather, they are gearing up for Nov. 8, Election Day.

And with the 2016 presidential election, the spotlight is on county election boards more than ever, thanks in part to the Republican presidential nominee.

Beginning in early October, Donald Trump rolled out a new talking point for rallies and events, pressing supporters to self-monitor polling locations on Nov. 8.

Trump’s urgings added to a narrative common throughout his bid for the White House: that the election is being stolen from him, and the system is rigged in favor of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

The New York business mogul’s encouragement of self-monitoring polls — particularly noting cities such as Philadelphia as locations supporters should carefully watch for voter fraud — has alarmed voting rights groups, who are concerned that minorities could be suppressed, intimidated or threatened on Election Day.

Though several polls show Clinton with a comfortable lead in New York over Trump, Czarny said the BOE is ready for any issues arising from Trump supporters self-monitoring polls.

He said that during the BOE’s election training sessions earlier this year, the office emphasized the potential for unrest on Nov. 8. The BOE also made sure workers understood the differences between a certified poll watcher and an unauthorized monitor, he added.

According to New York state’s election law, poll watchers — who are deployed by campaigns or political organizations — need an official poll watching certificate, written off by their respective campaigns or represented candidates, to be able to monitor activities at polling locations and discuss procedures with election officials on Election Day.

Poll watchers can monitor, but cannot electioneer or interfere with the voting process in any way.

They do, however, have the ability to formally challenge voters, if they witness or discover something fraudulent, Czarny said. But if issuing a challenge, they need to notify government-employed election inspectors, who ultimately determine the course of action in the matter.

Czarny said he thinks there is a chance unauthorized monitors could make an appearance throughout the county on Nov. 8, saying the 2016 presidential election has “a little bit more passion” than past elections.

“If someone showed up at a polling place that was not a voter, or accompanying a voter, or without a poll watching certificate, they’d be asked to leave and they would have to go outside the 100 foot mark (of the polling location),” Czarny said. “But if they won’t, they’ll be explained why they have to leave, and if they still won’t, we will call the authorities.”

To ensure the BOE operates fairly, including by monitoring polls on Election Day, its employees are made up of members of both parties.

Sam Ogozalek | Staff Writer

Walking alongside rows of cubicles, Czarny begins to point at BOE workers typing at computers, on the phone and filing paperwork.

“He’s a D, she’s an R, she’s a D,” Czarny says, heading toward the office’s back warehouse.

At the election headquarters, workers are termed “D’s” and “R’s” to represent their respective political affiliation: Democrat or Republican.

In the BOE’s warehouse, which contains everything from the county’s voting machines to bags of miscellaneous supplies for each county voting district, no one is allowed in alone, Czarny said. Only when there is bipartisan pairing can anyone come in to work throughout the warehouse.

As a Democrat, Czarny has a Republican counterpart at the office: Helen Kiggins Walsh. Kiggins Walsh preferred not to speak or comment on the subject, according to BOE employees.

“Representatives from both parties verify everything we do,” Czarny said. “Whether it’s registering a voter, or issuing an absentee ballot or monitoring the poll sites on Election Day.”

Randy Potter, the regional director of the CNY for Trump group and the vice-chair of the Syracuse Republican Committee, said he is “not really concerned about authorized poll watchers, (but) of course … concerned about unauthorized poll watchers” on Election Day.

He recalled a New Black Panther Party intimidation case during the 2008 election as an example of unauthorized poll watchers disrupting the election process.

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea to watch the polls,” Potter said. “Frankly, I think this just has to do with people (wanting) to make sure this election’s on the up-and-up.”

Though he’s in favor of poll monitoring, Potter discounted concerns over the potential targeting of minorities and said he doesn’t expect minorities to be intimidated by Trump supporters self-monitoring polls on Election Day.

Potter attributed the concerns that Trump supporters will threaten minorities to political biases.

“I think this is part of the media narrative … adding into the narrative that Hillary Clinton has already advanced about us: that we are deplorable,” Potter said. “No, not for a second do I think that (Trump supporters) are going to do that.”

Experts agree to an extent with both Czarny’s and Potter’s concerns over unauthorized poll monitors.

Kristi Andersen, a professor emeritus of political science at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, said although there is a possibility for individual voting disruptions, there hasn’t been much mobilization or coordination between Trump supporters to plan large-scale protests.

In New York, there is little chance for Trump to upset Clinton, Andersen said, with Clinton being 24 percentage points ahead of Trump, according to the latest Siena College Poll.

“The idea of some vote fraud pushing the election to Clinton … you know, she is likely already going to win the vote of Syracuse,” she said.

With such a large disparity between Clinton and Trump in state polls, Andersen said there is less likelihood of protests from Trump supporters that believe the election is rigged in New York on Election Day.

Herbert Weisberg, a professor emeritus of political science at The Ohio State University, said election workers will be prepared for Trump supporters self-monitoring polls and that he expects people who intimidate other voters will be stopped by election officials.

“The system is there, and will … provide accurate and verifiable and anonymous results,” Czarny said.

Published on November 2, 2016 at 9:59 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek