State Supreme Court Decision: Even Year Election Move Violates New York State Constitution
By: Joseph T. Burns
A State Supreme Court Justice in Syracuse found that the new state law moving town and county elections to even years violated the New York State Constitution. The constitutionality of this law, which was enacted last year with no Republican support in the New York State Legislature, was challenged by a number of county governments, including Onondaga, Nassau, and Dutchess.
While the law in question would have moved nearly all town and county elections to even year cycles, certain local offices and municipal governments were left out. First, village and city elections, including elections in New York City, New York’s largest local government, were not covered by this law. Elections for county clerk, district attorney, and sheriff – public offices created in the state constitution – were also not covered. Finally, future judicial elections were not required to take place on even years.
Proponents of the law argued that moving town and county elections to even years would boost voter turnout in those contests. Opponents argued that moving local elections to even years would cause local voices and concerns to be drowned out by national issues.
In his decision, Justice Neri found that the timing of town and county elections were matters of “local concern,” and the state constitution prohibited the state legislature from legislating on such matters. Justice Neri also called into question the State’s stated reasons for enacting this law. Currently, he noted, tremendous voters drop-off exists in local races held on even years, and this is likely to increase should all local races be held on even years and the size of the ballot roughly doubles.
While not yet confirmed, the conventional wisdom is that the State will appeal this decision.
