Appeals court upholds New York voting rights law, reversing lower court

A New York appeals court on Thursday reversed a ruling from a judge that struck down a state voting rights law designed to protect the political voice of minority groups.

The ruling from the Appellate Division of the state Supreme Court in New York City allows a lawsuit brought by six Black and Hispanic voters against the Town of Newburgh in the Hudson Valley to proceed. The appeals court also said the trial-level judge overstepped her authority in November by striking down New York’s Voting Rights Act of 2022 in its entirety.

“We are pleased, though not surprised, that the Appellate panel upheld the constitutionality of the New York State John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act and allowed the Newburgh residents who have been shut out of their city’s at-large electoral system to seek a fair shot at choosing candidates to represent them,” David Imamura, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

The lawsuit argued that “at-large” elections to pick town board members in the majority-white town had kept Black and Hispanic residents from electing their candidates of choice, diluting their vote. They asked the court to impose a system in which the town, located about 60 miles (95 kilometers) north of New York City, would elect board members by district.

The civil litigation was bought under the New York’s Voting Rights Act, which created a path for voters to challenge at-large elections on racial or ethnic grounds.

Orange County state court Justice Maria Vazquez-Doles said in November that a portion of the act violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

But Justice Hector LaSalle wrote in the 4-0 appeals court decision that attorneys for Newburgh “failed to establish as a matter of law that compliance with the vote dilution provisions” of the law would force them to violate the equal protection clause.

An email seeking comment was sent to an attorney for Newburgh.

The suit, which was filed in March, was one of at least four lawsuits filed under New York's Voting Rights Act.

State Attorney General Letitia James, whose lawyers argued that the law was constitutional, said she was pleased with the ruling.

“Our democracy thrives when all voters, regardless of their background, can make their voices heard at the ballot box," the Democrat said in a statement.