NYS Court of Appeals will hear challenge to new even-year election law

ALBANY — The state’s court will hear arguments Monday in a case that could change the timing and dynamics of local elections — county executive, town board, county board — across New York State.

The Court of Appeals will weigh the constitutionality of a law that would move local elections in New York to even-numbered years to align them with state and federal contests.

In short, New Yorkers would no longer have some sort of election every single year. Instead, New Yorkers would vote for town board or county executive in either a gubernatorial or presidential election year.

The law was driven by Democrats who say it will lead to better turnouts, less confusion for voters and less cost to counties that otherwise have to hold elections every year.

Republicans contend it violates the state constitutional guarantees for "home rule," would lead to local races being ignored and, perhaps more important strategically, gives Democrats an advantage in turnout.

"It is another example of where you stand on ‘small-d democracy’ questions is dependent where you party is sitting," Grant Reeher, a Syracuse University political scientist, told Newsday.

"There are good arguments to be made either side," he said. "But if the Dems weren’t going to get an advantage out of this, I would doubt they would be pushing it as an issue."

The Democratic-dominated State Senate and Assembly passed the legislation in 2023; Gov. Kathy Hochul signed it into law that December.

The new law applies to every county outside of New York City and would phase in even-year elections over a few years.

Republicans have tried to overturn the statute. Onondaga County Executive J. Ryan McMahon led the lawsuit, quickly joined by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and a handful of other county executives.

A Syracuse judge ruled in favor of the Republicans in 2024, but the State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, New York’s mid-level court, reversed the ruling and rejected the Republicans’ claims.

In a unanimous decision in May, five appellate judges said the law doesn’t violate the state constitution and "home rule" guarantees provided to municipalities. They said no provision of the constitution "gives a county exclusive local control over the manner in which local elections will be held or the specific details of each office."

Importantly, the judges also said there is no reason to delay implementation of the law — it should take effect this year.

That means everyone running locally in 2025 would have a truncated term if elected. If a candidate normally has a two-year term and they are running in 2025 (for example, county legislature), then it will be truncated to a one-year term, with the seats up for reelection in 2026.

If a candidate is running for, say, Nassau County executive, it will be for a three-year term instead of the normal four. Blakeman, a Republican, is running for reelection this fall against Seth Koslow, a Democratic county legislator.

According to a recent National Conference of State Legislatures report, 24 states forbid even-year elections for municipalities, seven mandate it and 19 let counties decide. Of those 19, six hold most local elections in even years.

Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay (R-Pulaski) said the Democrats' rationale for the law is suspect. The push for turnout, he said, has obvious "political overtures" — the move won't save a ton of money because not every election, such as for district attorney or sheriff, can be moved to an even year because those terms of office are set in the constitution.

He said Democrats' arguments "aren't as altruistic" as his opponents claim.

"Sounds to me what they really want to do is nationalize local elections," Barclay said. "The Democrats in some areas have had trouble getting their voters out for local elections, so they think they are not as in tune with local issues as national, so let's put it with national elections."

Barclay also said there's little doubt county- or town-level candidates will have an extremely hard time getting their messages and issues out if competing in even-numbered years.

Sen. James Skoufis (D-Cornwall) called those arguments "absurd."

"There are both red and blue states that have moved to even-numbered election years or have proposed doing so," said Skoufis, sponsor of the legislation. "Voters are smart enough to distinguish who they are voting for in presidential elections and who they are voting for in local elections. It’s tragic that opponents of this legislation think voters are stupid."

Skoufis pointed out voter turnout in presidential years rises most noticeably among young voters, minorities and the working class, which generally helps Democrats overall. But the big thing, he said, is it rises dramatically overall, with some presidential years doubling turnout in odd-numbered, local election years.

"We are talking about maybe a doubling of turnout," Skoufis said. "It’s an enormous incentive."

The final say will belong to the Court of Appeals, which has shifted in a more liberal direction since a new chief judge, Rowan Wilson, took the reins of the seven-member court in 2023.

The court has sided with Democrats and progressives on congressional redistricting, abortion rights and speedy trial guarantees. Prosecutors, while still winning a majority of cases, are prevailing in a noticeably lower percentage than under Wilson’s predecessor.

Further adding to the Republicans’ burden in the case, unanimous appellate decisions on constitutional issues are typically hard to overturn, though not impossible.

Said Reeher of the GOP’s outlook: "If there’s not something in the constitution they can point to immediately, it’s going to be hard for them to say there is some fundamental right that’s being violated by moving to even-year elections."

Barclay acknowledged Republicans "haven't had a lot of success" with election-law cases at the top court.

"Look, I'm not dumping on the Court of Appeals," Barclay said. "But I think it would be hard to say they don't have a liberal bent."

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy