Analysis: State’s high court upholds Even-Year Election Law; 2025 election will mark start of transition

New York’s highest court has upheld the state’s Even Year Election Law, rejecting challenges from several counties that argued the 2023 statute violated the home-rule provisions of the state constitution.

In a unanimous opinion by Judge Michael J. Garcia filed yesterday, the Court of Appeals ruled that there is no constitutional limitation on the  State Legislature’s authority to move county and town elections to even-numbered years so they coincide with state and federal contests.

“There is no express or implied constitutional limitation on the legislature’s authority to enact the Even Year Election Law,” Garcia wrote. “Consequently, without any such constitutional limitation, the EYEL is a proper exercise of that authority.”

The decision affirms the Fourth Department Appellate Division’s ruling that reversed a 2024 Onondaga County Supreme Court decision declaring the law unconstitutional and blocking its enforcement.

The Town of Riverhead joined the case as an amicus curiae, siding with the counties that challenged the law. In its brief, Riverhead argued that the statute usurps the town’s authority to maintain its own election schedule and warned that aligning local contests with state and federal races would drown out local issues and debate.

2025 elections begin the transition

The Court of Appeals’ decision means the law will take effect immediately for the 2025 election cycle, which serves as the transition to even-year local elections beginning in 2026.

In practical terms:

• A town supervisor normally serving a two-year term will, if elected this November, serve a one-year term (2026 only).
• Officials with four-year terms normally ending in 2029 will see those terms shortened by one year, expiring at the end of 2028.
• The next regular local elections after 2025 will be held in 2026, not 2027.

“While the 2025 elections are still scheduled to occur as planned, officials subject to reelection in an odd-numbered year shall have their term expire as if such official were elected at the previous general election held in an even-numbered year,” the Court noted, quoting the statute.

For Riverhead, a one-year supervisor term

Riverhead, which has long held its town elections in odd years, will follow that transition schedule.

The town supervisor elected next month will serve only one year, from January 1 to December 31, 2026.

Riverhead will then hold its first even-year town election in November 2026, when the supervisor’s office will again be on the ballot. Town council members and other town offices elected in 2027 are adjusted by the law and will be elected to three-year terms expiring in 2030. Those offices will be filled in 2030 for a regular four-year term.

Law’s purpose: higher turnout and less confusion

The Even Year Election Law (L 2023, ch 741) was enacted to consolidate local races with the higher-turnout state and federal elections.

Its sponsors said the measure would “make the process less confusing for voters and lead to greater citizen participation.”

The Legislature exempted only certain offices, including those whose terms are fixed by the State Constitution, positions in towns coterminous with villages, and offices in counties located in New York City.

Court: state’s power prevails over local autonomy

In upholding the law, the Court of Appeals reaffirmed that counties and towns exercise authority delegated by the state and that the Legislature remains “the preeminent sovereign.”

Judge Garcia wrote that “municipalities are entirely under the control of the state legislature except insofar as it may be restricted by state constitutional limitations,” and found no such limitation in Article IX.

The court also rejected federal constitutional claims by individual voters, finding that any burden imposed by consolidating local elections was “minor as compared to the State’s legitimate and substantial interest in increasing voter turnout and reducing confusion.”

Next steps and possible appeals

With the Court of Appeals’ decision final on state constitutional issues, the counties’ remaining options are limited.

They could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the ruling on federal constitutional grounds, or attempt to file a new federal lawsuit claiming violations of the U.S. Constitution. Either path would face steep hurdles.

The Supreme Court accepts very few such appeals, and a new federal action would likely be dismissed because the same issues have already been litigated in state court.

Unless a federal court intervenes, the Even Year Election Law will govern this year’s elections and all future local election cycles.

Correction: This article has been amended to correct a misstatement about the terms of office of town council members elected in 2023. Their four-year terms are unchanged and will expire in 2027. When those positions are filled in 2027, they will temporarily be for a three-year term, expiring in 2030.