NEW YORK STATE – A bill that creates uniformity in the state’s political calendar by scheduling all local elections to take place on even-numbered years after 2025 was signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul on Friday, December 22.

The realignment of election years will set the elections of local positions such as Town Supervisors, Town Board members, County Legislators and other locally elected positions on the same schedule as State Legislators, the Governor, members of Congress, U.S. Senators and the President of the United States.

Previous to the bill’s signing, many local elections across the State, including Sullivan County, were held on odd-numbered years. Just a over one month ago, the 2023 election results were solidified with an incoming overhaul of the makeup of the County Legislature anticipated.

The County Legislature previously showed their disagreement with the schedule alterations as they passed a resolution requesting the Governor to not sign the bill, which was originally sponsored by Senator James Skoufis of New York’s 42nd Senate District.

County officials noted that according to their understanding of the language of the bill, the upcoming 2024-2027 County Legislature-elects will remain unimpacted and serve a four-year term. However, it is understood that the Legislature that follows will serve a three-year term to line up with the updated schedule. As it stands, the county is set to converge with the updated calendar in the year 2030.

Not all local elections will see a change in scheduling however. Those excluded positions were that of the County Sheriff, currently held by Sheriff Mike Schiff, the District Attorney (DA) position, soon to be filled by DA-elect Brian Conaty, and the County Clerk, of which incumbent Russell Reeves just secured his reelection in November. 

It also excludes Family Court Judges, (Hon. Jacqueline Ricciani and Hon. E. Danielle Jose-Decker,) County Court Judges, (Hon. James Farrell and Hon. E. Danielle Jose-Decker,) and Surrogate Court Judges. 

Village elections and other local positions with a three-year term are also unaffected.

Governor Hochul said in a statement on Friday that the aim of the newly signed bill, also called Legislation S3505-B/A4282-B, is to promote voter participation and increase access to the polls in local elections. 

“Every eligible New Yorker deserves the right to participate in the democratic process without unnecessary barriers,” Governor Hochul said. “By signing this legislation, we are taking a significant step towards expanding access to the ballot box and promoting a more inclusive democracy. This is a meaningful first step and I would support a constitutional amendment to align all election years, to save taxpayer dollars and avoid voter fatigue.”

In addition to the passing of the bill, Governor Hochul also announced her support for an amendment to the New York State Constitution that would align elections for all offices in the future.

Sullivan 

disagrees 

In addition to the County Legislature noting their disapproval of the bill, NYS 51st Senate District Representative, Senator Peter Oberacker, voted in opposition to the bill, which passed the Senate 39-23 on June 9.

Sullivan County Board of Elections (BoE) Commissioners Lori Benjamin and Deanna Senyk said in a joint statement that although time will tell exactly how this will affect the voting process in the county, they are not in favor of the change, with the alterations possibly leading to congestion and longer waiting times at the polling places.

In recent busier election seasons, it was reported that there were considerably longer wait times at the polls.

The commissioners assured the enduring quality of the printers and equipment that has been used in county -wide elections for the past few major election seasons. 

“Printers did not have issues in the first three [elections]. It’s not the equipment — it’s the number of people coming out to vote,” they jointly said.

The commissioners said that increasing the number of Election Inspectors while encouraging early voting are two options for avoiding higher wait times on Election Day and lowering the amount of people at the polls at once. For those who are registered voters in Sullivan County and are interested in becoming paid election inspectors, training is available through the BoE. 

“[There are] all of these options available, so there’s no need to wait [on Election Day],” Benjamin and Senyk said.