Syracuse voters have to deal with a new polling site without their knowledge of the change

BDJ 664

Some Voters in Central New York Have Their Poll Center Changed This Year

By Gabe Carr Johnson

Video

Gabriel Carr-Johnson: MANY VOTERS HAVE A SPECIFIC PLACE WHERE THEY VOTE EVERY YEAR. BUT THIS YEAR HERE IN SYRACUSE THINGS HAVE CHANGED. JOSSETTE JACKSON-BURGOS AND WALWYN JACKSON, SYRACUSE NATIVES SAID THAT THEY HAD BEEN COMING TO A THEIR VOTING PLACE FOR YEARS BEFORE IT WAS CHANGED. SHE SAYS THIS CAN BE VERY CHALLENGING FOR SOMEONE VOTING FOR THEIR FIRST TIME.

Jossette Jackson-Burgos: If its a new voter they’re like oh yes Im excited im gonna vote im gonna do this and then youre going to deter them by not even giving them a simple notification that yeah youre voting place has changed. “)

Carr-Johnson: WITH THE RECENT PROBLEMS ESCOLATING FROM THE ELECTIONS IN THE PEOPLE FEEL LIKE THIS IS A WAY TO SILENCE THE PEOPLE FROM THEIR VOTE.

Walwyn Jackson: I feel like its a way to deter people from voting

Carr-Johnson: EVEN WITH THE DIFFICULTY OF VOTING FOR SOME THIS YEAR. DEEDRA DYER SAYS THAT VOTING NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO.

Deedra Dyer: You need to vote, you need to work together you need to keep pushing along because I hate to say it its just an evil evil world that we live in.

Carr-Johnson: People have been her to Eastwood Community Center by the dozen today now one worker says that he has seen over 300 people the most hes seen since he started working the polls, now I dont expect that to slow down throughout the day as more people are starting to get off work and come vote in Syracuse, Democracy in Action im Gabe Carr-Johnson.

 

SYRACUSE N.Y. (DIA) — Many voters in Central New York have had their voting places remain the same over the years, but this year things have changed. New Poll Centers for people, but they were never informed of this. This happened in the case of Josette Jackson-Burgos and her husband Walwyn Jackson, both Syracuse residents.

“We showed up to our regular voting sight, which is Nottingham High School, which we have been coming here for years and they told us we have a different location, with no prior communication,” said Jackson-Burgos. She said her new polling center is closer to her house than Nottingham is so it would have been more convenient for her to go to.

On the biggest political night of the year, it is important to make sure everyone’s voice is heard, and everyone gets an equal chance to get their vote cast. Whether it is by absentee or by in person the mis communication about ones polling center needs to be clearly communicated.

“You need to vote, you need to work together you need to keep pushing along because I hate to say it it’s just an evil world that we live in,” said Deedra Dyer, a Syracuse resident who has voted every year for the last 38 years.

Dyer emphasized the importance of getting a vote in whether you know of the candidates or not.

“Every vote matters, no matter if you are 18 voting for the first time or 80 years old,” Dyer said. She went on to say that every person she sees every election day she makes sure to tell them that their vote and opinion matters.

“Them moving our polling site seems like they are trying to deter us from voting, and I don’t like that, that is why I vote every year, to make sure my voice is heard,” Jackson said. He makes sure he sets an example for his kids in the future to make sure they know the importance of voting.

 

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