A change to the way elections are handled in a Hudson River town could have broader implications for minority voters across New York, protecting their rights as such protections are eroded at the federal level.
Under a settlement reached last week, the town of Newburgh will now use a form of ranked-choice voting to elect members of its Town Council, similar to the way New York City conducts its municipal primaries and special elections.
The change was prompted by a lawsuit filed under the state’s John Lewis Voting Rights Act on behalf of minority voters who argued their votes were consistently diluted under the town’s at-large voting system.
“I've been living here in Newburgh for 32 years, and in those whole 32 years, there's never ever been a person of color on that town board,” said Ernie Tirado, a Hispanic resident and one of the plaintiffs of the case.
Newburgh is 40% Hispanic, but under its current electoral system, Black and Hispanic voters have never been able to consistently elect a representative of their choice. The town elected the first African American woman to the Council last November.
The law adopted in 2022 gave voters a new path to challenge voting methods in jurisdictions where there was evidence of disenfranchisement based on race or language access.
Advocates say the settlement is good news for minority voters across the state who see looming threats to their voting rights from the federal government.
“In a moment where the United State Supreme Court could strike down the federal Voting Rights Act, the New York state Voting Rights Act is able to fill the gap,” said David Imamura, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. He was referring to a case before the high court that could strike down a section of the federal law that has long been used to create congressional districts that allow minority voters to elect candidates of their choice.
Imamura noted New York City has several congressional districts that exist because of Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act. As an example, he cited the 6th Congressional District, which includes Flushing in Eastern Queens and was drawn to be an Asian-majority congressional district. The seat is currently held by Democratic Rep. Grace Meng.
Still, voting rights advocates said more needs to be done to deal with the immediate threats to this year’s elections and improve the long-term health of New York’s democracy.
An effort to address the dilution of Black and Hispanic votes on Staten Island's North Shore abruptly ended on Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay barring a lower court from redrawing the lines of the 11th Congressional District. It currently includes all of Staten Island and portions of South Brooklyn.
The Washington Post reported last week that the Trump administration was circulating a 17-page draft executive order, based on unsubstantiated claims of interference in the 2020 elections by China, that would declare a national emergency giving the federal government control over elections.
“On a scale of one to 10 [with 10 being the most urgent], I would say it’s a 10 right now, given the threats from the federal government to take control of the midterm elections," Louis Sawi of the Let New York Vote Coalition said.
The coalition is backing more than a half-dozen measures that would improve access to voting on college campuses and expand access at correctional facilities. The bills would also enhance protections for voters at poll sites, including if there is a disruption at a site that forces it shut down for a period of time.
A bomb threat in 2022 temporarily shuttered a poll site in East Harlem until the NYPD could investigate the situation. Voting resumed shortly after the incident, but the bill’s sponsor said new legislation would ensure a disruption does not keep people from the polls.
“It's becoming increasingly clear that we need to have a system in place, should there be some type of disruption at a poll site that does not disenfranchise people's right to vote,” said state Sen. Andrew Gounardes, the bill’s sponsor.
Susan Lerner, head of Common Cause New York and a founding member of the Let NY Vote Coalition, said the Newburgh case is a great example of a clear message in state law “that people will not be prevented from voting and a willingness on the part of a locale to adopt reform.”
Lerner said that, given the increasing threats to restrict access to the polls coming from Washington, D.C., it was vital to remember "our federal constitution gives the primary responsibility for administering our elections to the states.”
