Appellate court upholds even-year election law, ruling it will take effect for 2025 vote

A New York State appellate court has upheld a 2023 law moving most local elections to even-numbered years. The unanimous ruling, issued yesterday by a five-judge panel in Rochester, also held that the law will take effect for the 2025 local election cycle.

The decision reverses an October 2024 ruling by a lower court in Onondaga County, which had found the law unconstitutional. The appellate judges determined that the law does not violate the New York State Constitution.

The law, enacted in December 2023, changes election schedules for many county, town, and village offices. Beginning in 2025, these local contests will coincide with state and federal elections, which are held in even-numbered years. As a result, most local officials elected in 2025 will serve terms shortened by one year, to align them with the new schedule.

MORE COVERAGE: New state law changes local election years to align with federal and state elections after 2025

Purpose of the law

Supporters say the change will increase voter participation. State Sen. James Skoufis (D-Orange County), the bill’s sponsor, said the goal is “to ensure as many voters as possible can weigh in on their local leadership” by moving elections to high-turnout years.

Turnout is typically much higher in even-numbered years, when races for president, Congress, and the state legislature are on the ballot. Proponents argue that aligning local elections with these contests will draw more attention—and more voters—to local issues.

Opposition and lawsuits

The bill passed both chambers of the State Legislature in June 2023 along party lines, with Republicans strongly opposed. Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt denounced the law as a “bill ending local elections,” calling its stated benefits “a total sham” intended to expand Democratic control.

Local Republican officials also objected. Steven Losquadro, legal counsel to the Suffolk County Republican Committee, argued that local concerns would be “drowned out” by the noise and spending of higher-profile federal and state races.

The New York State Association of Counties similarly opposed the law, warning that local governance would lose visibility.

Following its passage, several counties—including Onondaga, Suffolk, and Nassau—and eight towns sued to block the law, arguing it violated the Constitution’s home rule protections.

In October, the Onondaga County Supreme Court sided with the plaintiffs, declared the law unconstitutional, and voided it.

MORE COVERAGE: Riverhead Town considers local law mandating odd-year town elections

Legal path to the appellate court

After the lower court ruling, the state sought to bypass the intermediate appeals court and take the case directly to the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court. But in March, the Court of Appeals declined to hear it, saying it lacked jurisdiction because the case did not raise only constitutional questions.

The high court transferred the appeal to the Appellate Division’s Fourth Department, which covers central and western New York. The appellate panel heard arguments on Tuesday and released a nine-page decision yesterday upholding the law and its implementation timeline.

MORE COVERAGE: State’s high court declines to hear appeal of case that struck down ‘even-year election law’

Skoufis celebrated the ruling on social media last night, calling the lower court’s decision “politically motivated” and describing the appellate ruling as a “Big win for democracy.”

The plaintiffs could seek to appeal to the Court of Appeals.