An upstate elections commissioner has been out of town since Saturday when the start of early voting began with hour-plus lines, The Post has learned.
One of Ulster County’s two Board of Elections commissioners, Republican Tom Turco, confirmed to The Post that he’s been in Boston for the past four days — or nearly half of the state’s early voting period — that stretches from Oct. 24 through Nov. 1.
“I had family business to take care of,” Turco said in a telephone interview, adding that he was headed home Tuesday evening.
Turco said he was working remotely and rejected calls to ease long lines by expanding hours or adding more locations beyond the county’s five early voting sites. He said people can still vote by absentee ballot or on Election Day.
But voters and his Democratic BOE counterpart said his absence from the $84,000-a-year post during a crucial election period is unacceptable.
“What the f–k is he thinking? And you can quote me on that!” fumed Liam Kahn, 26, who waited 90 minutes to cast his ballot in Kingston Saturday.
“To know that the man responsible was not here? That’s not right. It really is infuriating,” Kahn said.
“That’s not acceptable,” said Sandi Cassese, 63, who waited to vote in Woodstock Saturday with her husband Neil Eisenberg for 2 1/2 hours.
“I definitely think he should have been around, that’s ridiculous,” Eisenberg, 64, added. Still, he praised local elections officials for implementing strict COVID-19 safety protocols including social distancing, outfitting staff with personal protective gear and providing sanitizer.
The county’s Democratic commissioner Ashley Dittus said an early voting location in New Paltz also saw two-and-a-half hour long waits over the weekend.
“I was there both Saturday and Sunday helping them at the site,” Dittus said. “He was not there and his deputy informed me he was in Boston.”
“It’s really shameful,” she said.
Much like New York City — where the mayor on Tuesday waited nearly four hours in line to vote in Brooklyn — and other parts of the state, early voting locations in Ulster County have seen record turnouts. Dittus said about 2,500 people have voted each day since Saturday. Yesterday at 7,500 ballots cast, they surpassed the total for early voting last year.
The county has about 110,000 active voters, 80 percent of which typically turnout in a general election, according to Turco who is retiring at the end of December after 24 years as the local elections commissioner.
