This week- Appellate Division Requests Amicus Briefs in Congressional Map Challenge; Mount Pleasant VRA Case Settled; State Budget Proposals Include Election Funding; Funding for Census 2030 Adances in Albany; Attorney General Preclearance Activity; Attorney General James Opposes SAVE Act; Around the Nation: Missouri
LITIGATION
Congressional Redistricting
Williams et. al v. New York State Board of Elections et. al
While the U.S. Supreme Court “stayed” a state court order to redraw New York’s 11th congressional district and leave the current map in place for the 2026 elections, an appeal remains pending before the the Appellate Department, First Department, in Manhattan. Last week, the court directed that two amicus briefs be submitted the court by March 25th. One brief would be from the New York Civil Liberties Union Foundation, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. Latino Justice Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the second brief from Harvard Law School Professors Ruth M. Greenwood and Nicholas O. Stephanopoulos. Both briefs propose tests that the trial court should employ to determine the effectiveness of a proposed minority crossover-coalition district.
Unless the plaintiffs drop their challenge to the 11th district, this case has the potential for future action.
SETTLEMENT APPROVED
Westchester County: Mount Pleasant Town Board Approved Voting Rights Act Case Settlement
Plaintiff Latino residents in Westchester County, challenged Mount Pleasant’s at-large electoral system for the town board, arguing that it diluted Hispanic voting power, preventing them from electing candidates of their choice, under the New York Voting Rights Act (NYVRA).
After about two years of litigation, Mt. Pleasant decided to settle rather than proceed to trial.
The settlement creates a hybrid district electoral system for the Mount Pleasant Town Board by increasing from 4 councilmembers to 6 councilmembers, plus the town supervisor will still be elected at-large.
The terms of the settlement include:
1. the Town shifting to a district-based structure beginning in 2027,
2. a district that will largely include Sleepy Hollow to elect one board member
3. another district to represent Pleasantville to elect one board member, and
4. the Town Board expanding in size and some seats will still be elected broadly.
Further, the Town will pay about $1.425 million in plaintiffs’ legal fees.
LEGISLATION
N.Y. Legislature: Budgeting Democracy While Hurtling Toward the 2026 Elections
The State Senate and Assembly released their legislative ‘one house’ budget proposals last week in response to the Governor’s $262.7 Billion proposal from January, kicking off the next phase of the tripartite process of hammering out the state’s FY 2026-27 budget, due April 1.
At this stage, in addition to agreeing on a fully funded State Board of Elections ($~38M), which includes $2.5M to fund the new Doctor John L. Flateau Voting and Elections Database, the three parties are likely to allocate Aid to Localities funding of $100 Million in available matching funds for candidates participating in the state’s public campaign finance program administered by the state’s Public Campaign Finance Board (funded at ~$16M), as well as $5M to cover the costs of postage for mail ballots and applications.
The Assembly would provide an additional $6M for the 58 local boards of elections, which supplements local funds for the 2026 primary and midterm elections with a portion earmarked for college campuses, while the Senate would add an additional $10M. For context, NYSECA, the state’s bipartisan Election Commissioners Association, requested $35M in localities funding to be distributed to the local boards of elections. Voting rights groups including the NYS League of Women Voters support this much-higher level of dedicated annual state funding, so boards can modernize equipment, provide convenient access while maintaining integrity, and improve poll-worker training, staffing, accessibility, engagement and the voting experience.
The Assembly proposed $500K to help implement a program like the Democracy During Detention Act (DDDA), a statewide framework for ensuring effective access to the ballot for thousands of eligible justice-involved citizens. Assembly Election Law Chair Latrice Walker, who is fighting to ensure this funding is included in the final budget said: “Passing and signing the Democracy During Detention Act into law would demonstrate in clear terms that New York values an inclusive democracy. People who are merely accused of a crime — they account for the majority of people in local jails — still have the right to vote. And the same goes for those convicted of misdemeanors. This is about making sure our election system works the way it is supposed to. If someone is eligible to vote under New York law, there should be a clear and consistent process that allows them to do so, no matter where they are.”
The Senate intends to fund New York’s anticipated application and admission to the multi-state voter registration list maintenance organization known as ERIC, which must be completed by the end of July according to a 2025 law and proposes restoring $250K to CUNY Medgar Evers College to support research and analysis of election data, which will be made available on a rolling basis via the State Board’s new Doctor Flateau database.
In addition, the Senate is pushing for $1M to launch Senate Elections Chair Gonzalez’ proposed Election Security Navigator Program, which could help dozens of understaffed local boards of elections mitigate ever-evolving cybersecurity threats. This measure is part of a package outside the budget that includes a second Gonzalez proposal, the Election Content Accountability Act, to require candidates for statewide office to disclose “provenance data” for images, audio, or video in political ads and messages–an effort to reveal to the public when AI-generated content is used in political media and disinformation campaigns.
Here where things may get collaborative in the upcoming rounds of budget talks. The Governor included two election-related Public Protection proposals in the Executive Budget, one to add criminal penalties to deter voter suppression and deceptive tactics in election campaigns, and another to combat materially-deceptive political media in the run-up to an election. The Assembly intentionally omitted both of these in their proposed budget, while the Senate included the Governor’s first proposal to stiffen and enforce criminal penalties against individuals or entities of all types that engage in acts of intimidation, deception, or obstruction impacting the voting rights of New Yorkers. However, the Senate intentionally omitted the Governor’s second proposal to expand and operationalize rules governing “materially deceptive media” in political communications, which also adds a definition of “provenance data” to state’s campaign finance regulatory framework. The Senate commented that it “supports further discussions on how best to protect elections from misleading or deceptive AI content”, perhaps favoring Senator Gonzalez’ Election Content Accountability Act mentioned above, which is awaiting passage on the Senate Floor. At the same time, the Senate is proposing $10M in the form of an Education Department grant program for school districts and non-profits, to “expand civic education and media and AI literacy”. Meanwhile, it’s unclear where the Assembly is on these proposals, inside or outside the Budget framework.
For a broader budget rundown, Capital Tonight host Susan Arbetter summarized highlights of the Senate ($269.8B) and Assembly (~$272B) proposed spending plans. Last month, Jon Paul Lupo, formerly Intergov Director for Mayor De Blasio, joined NYLS’ Ben Max to discuss Mayor Mamdani’s first trip (back) to Albany for Budget season.
CENSUS
CENSUS 2030 FUNDING ADVANCES
Senate & Assembly Agree to Support Census 2030 Effort
In a major victory for census advocates, the legislature’s support for census funding in the FY 2027 budget may put New York in the early lead among states to support 2030 Census efforts four years in advance of the actual count.
The Assembly and Senate “one house” budgets include funding for Census 2030 planning activity.
1. The Senate includes $30 million for a state census office located within the Department of Labor.
2. The Assembly includes $3 million for a state census office within the Department of Labor and $20 million for community-based organizations to conduct census outreach and education activities in the Department of State.
3. Governor Hochul requested $3 million for all Census 2030 activity in the Department of Labor.
Budget negotiators need to determine final spending levels and align how funds will be spent and who will staff census efforts. The funding levels reflect legislation sponsored by Assembly Members Michaelle Solages (D-Nassau) and Landon Dais (D-Bronx) and Senator Jeremy Cooney (D-Monroe) that creates a state census office, a state commission, and provides funding to local governments and non-profit census advocate organizations.
VOTING RIGHTS ACT
N.Y. Attorney General’s Office Preclearance
1001- Mount Vernon City School District – request for additional information sent- Two polling locations have permanently closed at the end of the 2024-25 school year. Honor Academy (Formerly Holmes School) and Parker Schools. Therefore, voters from Honor Academy will vote at Lincoln Elementary School and Parker School voters will now vote at Rebecca Turner Academy.
All submissions can be viewed at: https://nyvra-portal.ag.ny.gov/
FEDERAL LEGISLATION
N.Y. Attorney General James Leads National Coalition to Oppose SAVE Act in Congress
New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading a coalition of 11 state attorneys general in urging the U.S. Senate to reject the proposed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act. In a letter sent to U.S. Senate leadership, the group argues that the legislation would significantly reshape how elections are administered in the United States, shifting authority away from states while imposing new requirements that could make voter registration more difficult for millions of Americans.
At the center of the dispute is the bill’s requirement that individuals provide documentary proof of citizenship in person when registering to vote or updating their voter information. If enacted, the measure would effectively eliminate widely used registration methods, including online registration, mail-in forms, and automatic voter registration programs. According to the coalition, these systems currently help states maintain accurate voter rolls and provide accessible pathways for eligible citizens to participate in elections.
The attorneys general argue that the proposal would place substantial burdens on voters who may not have immediate access to documentation such as passports, birth certificates, or naturalization records. They point to estimates suggesting that roughly 21 million voting-age citizens lack ready access to such documents, and note that documentation mismatches, particularly among married women whose legal names differ from those on birth certificates, could further complicate registration. As a result, the coalition warns the legislation could disproportionately affect working-class voters, younger voters, rural communities, and Americans living overseas, including members of the military who rely on mail-based registration processes.
In addition to voter access concerns, the coalition frames the legislation as a broader constitutional issue. The attorneys general argue that the SAVE America Act would represent an unprecedented federal expansion into election administration, a domain historically managed by the states. They contend that the bill would effectively nationalize aspects of voter registration systems that states have developed and refined over decades.
The coalition also challenges the premise behind the legislation. According to the attorneys general, citizenship verification already exists within current voter registration systems, and documented instances of noncitizen voting in federal elections remain exceedingly rare. For that reason, they argue the bill addresses a problem that existing safeguards already manage while risking unintended consequences for eligible voters.
Alongside New York, the letter was signed by attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. Together, they are urging the Senate to reject the measure and preserve state authority over election administration while maintaining access to established voter registration systems.
AROUND THE NATION
MISSOURI: A state judge determined that the state’s recently redrawn 2025 congressional redistricting plan can be used in the 2026 elections, rejecting efforts that sought to reject it before the 2026 elections. Governor Mike Kehoe approved the new congressional map into law after a special session in September. The new map creates new districts for Missouri and is likely to send one more Republican to Congress. The map splits Kansas City into three districts.
INSTITUTE RESOURCES
The New York Elections, Census and Redistricting Institute has archived many resources for the public to view on our Digital Commons Page.
Our Redistricting Resources page contains resources on the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act. You can access the page
here: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/redistricting_resources/
Archived Updates can be accessed here: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/redistricting_roundtable_updates/
Please share this weekly update with your colleagues. To be added to the mailing list, please contact Jeffrey.wice@nyls.edu
The N.Y. Elections, Census & Redistricting Institute is supported by grants from the New York Community Trust, New York Census Equity Fund, the Mellon Foundation, and the New York City Council. This report was prepared by Jeff Wice, Esha Shah, Jarret Berg and Alexandria Sanatore.