NY Judges Baffled by County Claims in Even-Year Election Law Row

New York’s top judges on Monday were puzzled by arguments that a state law moving county and town elections to even-year cycles will reduce engagement in local elections while also meeting the state’s goal of increasing overall voter turnout.

“What role does the court have in interjecting itself into this different view of the impact of the statute?” Court of Appeals Associate Judge Jenny Rivera asked an attorney for Suffolk County and a group of towns and individual voters arguing against the law.

At issue is the state’s Even Year Election Law, which took effect in January and moves many ...