By Will Barclay
New York’s politically motivated and unconstitutional Even Year Election Law has been struck down by an Onondaga County state Supreme Court justice. For anyone who recalls the immediate pushback from local officials and constitutional law scholars when the law was first passed, this ruling should come as no great surprise.
The law was painted as a way to improve voter turnout in local elections by “consolidating” them to align with higher-profile state and federal contests taking place in even-numbered years. The problem with this law, outside its obvious political motivations, is that it excludes certain races and certain counties like those in New York City. In other words, there would still be elections in odd-numbered years, and all the costs and work associated with hosting those elections would still be incurred.
Rightfully, Supreme Court Justice Gerard J. Neri took exception to the contradictory and illogical legislation as he pointed out it tramples home rule, usurps the legal authority of counties to schedule elections and set terms of office, violates the state constitution and raises federal equal protection concerns. There were a lot of holes in this law, and the courts saw right through them.
This law, which was pushed by legislative Democrats and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office in the waning hours of the legislative session, reeked of political manipulation. Even years tend to have greater participation than odd years because they include higher-turnout elections like that for the president. In New York, where Democrat voters outnumber Republicans by a wide margin, it’s clear the motivation behind the law had nothing to do with increasing voter participation overall but rather boosting down-ballot Democrats’ chances in local elections by putting them on ballots with candidates expected to draw more voters. Again, the court saw right through this tactic.
Our elections are sacrosanct. They are the cornerstone of our democratic system and should be treated with the respect they deserve. The laws governing our electoral system are not political tools to help generate one outcome or another; they must be fervently and aggressively fair, and most everyone could see this law was not. I’m glad this matter was handled swiftly by the courts and am very happy to see local governments preserve their legal authority over this most important consideration.
Will Barclay (R,C,I-Pulaski) is the Assembly Minority Leader.