A sweeping federal lawsuit filed this week claims New York’s Even Year Election Law (EYEL) violates the First Amendment and the Voting Rights Act by undermining local democracy and disproportionately hurting minority voters.
The suit, filed in the Eastern District of New York on October 30, brings together dozens of plaintiffs — including Republican committees, county governments, town officials, and local candidates from Nassau, Suffolk, and Orange counties — who argue that the state’s new election law will bury local races beneath high-profile federal contests and silence community voices.
The EYEL, passed by the Democrat-controlled Legislature in December 2023, moves most local elections from their traditional odd-year cycles to even-numbered years. Supporters say the change will boost turnout. Opponents say it will erode local accountability and drown out down-ballot races.
The complaint alleges that forcing local elections to coincide with presidential, congressional, and gubernatorial contests “drowns out” smaller races, inflates campaign costs, and shifts voter attention away from local issues. The result, they say, is a fundamental loss of political speech and a blow to grassroots engagement.
Key claims: Speech, cost, and race
The lawsuit argues the EYEL imposes “severe burdens” on local candidates’ ability to communicate with voters — especially in communities that rely on low-cost, local campaigning through town halls, newspapers, and debates.
Instead, local campaigns will now compete for airtime and attention with big-money national races, pushing them to the bottom of long ballots. The suit claims that this shift not only distorts the message but also amplifies political and racial polarization.
According to the complaint, consolidating elections increases “roll-off,” where voters skip over local races, and disproportionately impacts communities of color that already face higher barriers to participation.
“If this law stands, local elections will become nationalized and minority-preferred candidates will be pushed out of the picture,” the plaintiffs argue.
What the lawsuit seeks
Plaintiffs are asking the court to strike down the law or allow counties and towns to opt out of it. They also want the state barred from enforcing the EYEL until the legal challenge plays out.
Among those challenging the law are multiple sitting town supervisors, county legislators, and candidates scheduled to run in 2025. They argue that the timing change will distort their races and make it harder to reach voters — particularly in communities where race-based voting patterns already exist.
The lawsuit also invokes past New York voting rights rulings and recent data showing a rise in election-related racial disparities across the state.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and the State of New York are named as defendants. The Governor’s office had not responded to the complaint at the time of publication.
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