As has been the case for the last several years, the Cayuga County Board of Elections once again closed its doors for the week between Christmas and New Years.

But Election Commissioners Dennis Sedor and Cherl Heary said that next year, things may be different.

“I personally don't like not having the office manned at all,” Sedor said Thursday. “I'm not sure that it's such a good idea.”

Both Sedor and Heary said that closing down the office for the last week of the year has been a long-standing practice of the board, as the employees that work there accumulate a good deal of comp time throughout the year that they would like to use.

“Even the part-time employees work more than full-time, and they build up some comp time around the primaries and the election,” Sedor said, noting that the board's four employees have also put in extra hours to train inspectors and work on matters involving obtaining new voting machines.

Therefore, the office has traditionally been closed at this holiday time, when generally very little is happening there, he said.

Still, Sedor and Heary are not crazy about the idea of closing up shop for an entire week.

They decided to adhere to the board's traditions and past practices this year, their first year as commissioners, because they are still learning the ropes and wanted to see what works - and what doesn't.

With more experience now, there will likely be changes regarding this matter, and others, for 2006.

“It's hard to close right down and not have somebody there,” Heary said.

Though it's not a busy time of year, she said, there were still phone calls when she was in the office Thursday morning.

Heary said that she had cleared the closure with county Legislature Chairman Herb Marshall and that both she and Sedor were available should any pressing matters or questions come about.

Staff writer Linda Ober can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or linda.ober@lee.net