Federal judge delays conference in even-year elections lawsuit

A federal judge has delayed the next court conference in the lawsuit challenging New York’s even-year election law, but there is no ruling changing Riverhead’s election calendar, and this year’s town supervisor race remains scheduled for Nov. 3.

U.S. District Judge Gary Brown adjourned a pre-motion conference that had been scheduled for today and reset it for June 18 at 2:30 p.m.

In an April 30 docket entry, Brown said the adjournment was prompted by the U.S. Supreme Court’s April 29 ruling in an unrelated voting-rights case, Louisiana v. Callais. In that decision, the court narrowed the way lower courts should evaluate some claims brought under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Brown directed the parties to file supplemental briefs by May 29 “discussing how, if at all, the Supreme Court’s decision in Callais affects the proposed motion to dismiss.”

The federal lawsuit was filed last year by the New York Republican State Committee, the Nassau, Suffolk and Orange County Republican committees, and several Republican-led towns, including Riverhead, challenging New York’s law moving most local elections to even-numbered years. Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the New York Court of Appeals decision upholding the law in a separate state-court challenge.

The even-year election law shifts most town and county elections outside New York City from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years to coincide with state and federal elections. Supporters have said the change is intended to increase voter turnout. Opponents have argued it will bury local races under higher-profile state and national campaigns and diminish voter attention to local issues and local elections.

The case has been closely watched locally both because of Riverhead’s involvement in the lawsuit and because the even-year election law has a direct impact on Riverhead Town elections.

Under the state law, the term of the town supervisor elected in 2025 was shortened from two years to one year. Another election to fill that post is required this November. The terms of Town Council members elected in 2025 were shortened to three years and will be filled for regular four-year terms in 2028. The terms of council members to be elected in 2027 will be three years instead of four, with those seats to be filled again in 2030 for regular four-year terms. The New York State Board of Elections outlines the transition in its “Even-Year Elections – Transition Guidance.”

As of now, the state law remains in full force. There has been no court order blocking this year’s election, and the supervisor race remains set for Nov. 3 unless a court rules otherwise.

The June 18 conference is scheduled to address the state’s anticipated motion to dismiss the case. The conference was requested by the state in January. It had originally been scheduled for March 9, but was adjourned pending the outcome of a petition filed by Rockland County asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Oct. 16, 2025 Court of Appeals decision upholding the even-year election law. After the Supreme Court denied that petition, the pre-motion conference was rescheduled for May 12.