A New York Supreme Court justice in Onondaga County, has struck-down New York’s Even Year Election Law, in a Ruling Tuesday that found the Statute Violates the State Constitution and also the Legal Authority of Counties to Schedule Elections and Set the Terms of Office for Local Positions. The New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) also Opposed the Measure when it was Enacted.
The Legislation championed by Democrats in the State Legislature and Signed into Law by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D). It moved many Elections for Local Offices to Even years, to align them with Races for President, Governor, and Congress, Contests that tend to bring a Higher Voter Turnout.
The Law was Challenged by a group of Voters, several Towns, and Republican County Executives from: Dutchess, Nassau, Oneida, Onondaga, Orange, Rensselaer, Rockland, Counties. Those Lawsuits were all Consolidated into One Case that was the Subject of Tuesday’s Ruling by State Supreme Court Justice Gerard J. Neri.
Democrats have said the Law was intended to “prevent voter confusion and to support increasing voter turnout, thereby advancing the free exercise of the right of New Yorkers to vote in every election and for every office.” But Opponents have noted that Democrats tend to Vote at Higher Rates in Even-year Elections than they do in so-called “Off-Year” or Odd-year Elections, and that the Measure was intended to give their Party an Advantage in Local Elections.
“The touted benefits of this bill are a total sham, concocted to hide the Democrat’s goal of expanding one-party control to every level of government,” State Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt (R-62nd District) said in December, 2023, when Hochul had Signed the Bill into Law a few days before Christmas.
Setting aside any alleged Political Motivations for the Law Change, Neri noted that Prior Opinions from the State Attorney General, Decisions by the Court of Appeals (New York’s Highest Court) and the Bill of Rights for Local Governments, that’s enshrined in the State Constitution provides that Counties may “adopt, amend or repeal alternative forms of county government.”
Neri noted that the Even Year Election Law would effectively Double the size of a Ballot and could lead to Voter Confusion and also a Drop off in the Voter Participation for Down-Ballot Races and Referendums. His Ruling cited, among other Elections, the 2022 Gubernatorial Race in the Town of DeWitt, when more than 780 Voters did Not Cast a VVote for a Proposition to Change the Term of the Highway Supervisor. In that same Election 68 People did Not Vote for the Governor’s Race in a Pool that included more than 10,500 Voters.
“Similarly, local races, as evidenced by the comparison in the 2022 election between the governor’s race and a town ballot initiative, would be competing for the attention of voters,” Neri wrote. “To use an obsolete term, there are only so many column-inches the news can and will handle. By maintaining a separation between even year federal and state elections and odd year local elections, local interests would not have to compete for attention with more widely covered state and national issues.”
The judge’s 26-page Ruling also noted that New York’s Municipal Home Rule Law provides Counties the Authority to Adopt Charters that “shall” make them Responsible for the Functions, Powers and Duties of the County “and the manner of election or appointment, terms of office, if any, and removal of such officers.”
Onondaga County Officials had also argued that the Even Year Election Law is Not a “General Law” because Not Aall Counties have an Elected Executive and therefore it does Not apply to All Counties. On that basis, the Plaintiffs had argued the Even Year Election Law is Unconstitutional.
Hochul and the State of New York, who were Represented in the Case by the State Attorney General’s Office, had asserted that the Even Year Election Law was a “general law” and that it was within their Authority to Override Local Governments' Laws and Charters. They also argued the Law Law did Not “materially alter the powers, duties or term limits of elected officials and merely provided for a consistent framework for elections, calculated to increase the likelihood that the greatest number of New Yorkers are able to exercise their fundamental right to vote.”
But Neri noted that the Even Year Election Law did Not Consolidate All Elections, including Races for Sheriff, County Clerk, District Attorney, Family Court judge, County Court Judge, and other Offices. He added that the Law also did Not Change Odd year Elections for New York City’s 8.5 million Residents, raising Federal Equal Protection Questions.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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