Older CNY residents vote before dawn, hope younger voters follow - syracuse.com

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DeWitt, N.Y. — Several early-rising, older Dewitt residents cast their votes in the county’s local 2021 election well before the sun rose on Tuesday morning.

Starting as early as 7 a.m., one polling station at Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church in Dewitt received a steady stream of residents pulling in to cast votes before driving off to start the day.

Poll workers arrived while the sky was still dark, making their way across the unlit parking lot. In the church’s basement, nearly a dozen private polling booths sprawled across the floor. As the poll workers took their places at separate tables, several older residents slowly trickled in.

Despite the dampened public attention for local elections such as this years’, exercising that right is more crucial than ever in the years between presidential elections, said Neerja Vajpayee, a voter heading out on her way to work after stopping by the polling station.

Beyond showing up to vote, staying educated on who and what you see on your ballot is also especially important, she said. A mother of two young adults, Vajpayee is proud to have raised her children to be informed and politically engaged community members in the 25 years she has lived in Syracuse.

Now that her daughter and son have moved away from home, Vajpayee has high hopes that they, alongside the rest of their generation, will keep themselves tuned in to local politics and elections.

“An uninformed voter is just as bad as not voting,” she said.

As politically engaged voters, Vajpayee’s children would make up a minority of younger voters who participate in local elections. According to a 2016 study conducted at Portland State University, less than 15% of eligible citizens vote in local elections — among them, the study found residents of ages 65 years and older to be 15 times more likely to vote than younger voters between the ages of 18-34.

With increased participation from Syracuse University students alone, this year’s local election could be different. The 2020 presidential election revealed a record increase in voter turnout, with a 57% turnout rate of citizens ages 18-34, up from a mere 49% turnout of the same age group in 2016′s presidential election.

In the early morning hours at Pebble Hill Presbyterian Church, however, the day’s voter turnout appeared largely skewed toward much older residents.

Dr. Willard Cohen, who has lived and voted in Dewitt’s suburbs for 55 years, said he has always made an effort to vote in every election, whether candidates on the ballot are running for national or local office.

For Cohen, this year is no exception. Cohen first joined the community as a new homeowner in 1965 alongside his wife. He also made sure to cast his vote in his time, decades ago, as a student at Syracuse University, he said.

Manuel Ares, another longtime resident, is also devoted to casting his vote each year. Ares, who has lived in the central New York area for the past 57 years, has not missed a single election that he can recall, he said.

“It’s a right that I have, so I exercise it,” Ares said.

Early voting results for Onondaga County won’t be posted just yet. In the meantime, as polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. today, Vajpayee remains hopeful for younger voters to show up today, she said.

“National (elections are) important but this is what affects your life,” Vajpayee said.

About DIA

Democracy in Action is an Election Day project produced by student journalists in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. The 2021 election marks DIA’s 12th year of telling voters’ stories. On Election Day, students fan out to polling places all over Onondaga County, starting from when polls open and continuing throughout the day. Project participants aim to produce a rich collection of stories using text, audio, video and still photography. We hope you enjoy everything you see, read and hear! Let us know @DemocracyAction or #nhdia on Twitter.

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