This week- Newburgh VRA Case Transferred to Westchester County, One Million Missing New York City Voters, VRA Preclearance Update, Alabama Redistricting, Upcoming Events
by Jeff Wice, Jarret Berg, and Alexis Marking
LITIGATION
Westchester: Clarke v. Town of Newburgh (Voting Rights Act)
This challenge was brought by voters in the Town of Newburgh in Orange County. After an original decision by a state supreme court judge rejected the case against the at-large town board and invalidated the state’s new Voting Rights Act, the Appellate Division reversed and the case was proceeding towards a hearing on the merits.
The Orange county supreme court judge hearing the case, Justice Maria Vazquez-Doles) recused herself from the case last week because she became aware she know one of the parties. Subsequently, several other justices in Orange County also recused themselves from hearing the care for various reasons ranging from planned vacations to conflicts of interest. On May 15, the case was transferred to Westchester County state supreme court. While it’s expected that a Westchester judge will be assigned to the case, the town is now appealing the transfer to Westchester.
ELECTIONS
New York City’s Unregistered Voters: “The Missing Millon”
New Yorkers for an Inclusive Democracy and City & State NY held a conference on voting reforms at New York Law School last week. The report “The Mission Million” was released at the conference written by Professor John Mollenkopf of the CUNY Graduate Center’s Center for Urban Research/. The reports takes a look at the over one million New Yorkers who are eligble to vote but who are not registered.
Key points from the report:
There are 1.3 million eligible New York City voters who are missing from the voter rolls,
representing over 25% of the city’s potential electorate.
Voter disenfranchisement Is concentrated among young, poor, and immigrant communities. Unregistered voters are disproportionately young adults (18–29), low-income residents living in poorer neighborhoods, who are renters; and naturalized, non-native born citizens
New York City’s registration system Is outdated, incomplete and cannot keep up with population mobility. Half a million people move in/out or within NYC each year—many never get added to or removed from the rolls.
The existing 4.7 million voter file overcounts existing voters. Over one million+ haven’t voted in 14 years, and many may have moved or died—further inflating participation estimates.
You can access the complete report here: https://missingmillion.commons.gc.cuny.edu/the-missing-million-report-2025/
VOTING RIGHTS ACT PRECLEARANCE
N.Y. Attorney General’s Office Preclearance Updates
461 NYC Board of Elections, poll site locations, under review
423 Albany County BOE, poll site locations, granted
541 Nassau County BOE, poll site locations, under review
501 Erie County BOE, poll site locations, under review
301 NYC BOE, poll site locations, under review
561 Nassau County BOE, poll site locations, under review
562 Erie County BOE, poll site locations, under emergency review
522 Onondaga County BOE, poll site locations, under review
523 Onondaga County BOE, poll site locations, under review
262 Nassau County BOE, poll site locations, under review
525 Onondaga County BOE, poll site locations, under review
262 Nassau County BOE, poll site locations, granted
581 Westchester County BOE, poll site locations, under review
441 Rockland County BOE, poll site locations, under review
All submissions can be viewed at: https://nyvra-portal.ag.ny.gov/
AROUND THE NATION
U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Strikes Down Federal Voting Rights Protection
A panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals—encompassing Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota—has struck down one of the key methods of enforcing the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA).
Traditionally, private individuals and groups have brought lawsuits under Section 2 to enforce voting protections against racial discrimination. However, in a 2-1 ruling last week, a 3-judge panel has found that Section 2 cannot be privately enforced because the VRA does not explicitly mention private individuals and groups. The panel concluded that only the Justice Department can bring lawsuits for this purpose.
This decision comes out of a North Dakota redistricting lawsuit initiated by the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the Spirit Lake Tribe. The tribal nations argued the redistricting lines drawn and approved by the North Dakota Legislature reduced the opportunity for Native American voters to elect the candidate of their choice. A lower court agreed, striking down the map for violating Section 2 of the VRA by diluting the voting power of Native Americans.
Here, the tribal nations cited Section 1983 (a federal statute which gives individuals the right to sue local and state officials for violating civil rights) as a basis for bringing the lawsuit as private groups. The North Dakota Secretary of State appealed to the 8th Circuit and argued that, in spite of decades of precedent, Section 1983 does not allow private individuals and groups to do so.
The 8th Circuit agreed. The tribal nations are now determining whether to appeal this decision. Debates about the private right of action may lead to a detrimental decision in the U.S. Supreme Court, eroding a significant protection of the VRA. A similar case decision came from an Arkansas federal court over that state’s legislative redistricting plan. The losing plaintiffs there decided not to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, fearing a possible negative outcome.
In a dissenting opinion, Chief Circuit Judge Steven Colloton stated, “Since 1982, private plaintiffs have brought more than 400 actions based on [Section 2] that have resulted in judicial decisions. The majority concludes that all of those cases should have been dismissed because [Section 2] of the Voting Rights Act does not confer a voting right.”
WISCONSIN: A group of Wisconsin voters have filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s congressional map as a partisan gerrymander. After Governor Tony Evers vetoed a congressional map in 2021, the Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted a map that made the “least change” to the 2011 map. The lawsuit alleges that the current map packs Democrats into two congressional districts and “cracks” other primarily-Democrat communities into Republican districts. Voters argue that this congressional map violates the Wisconsin Constitution and request that the court order a new map for the 2026 congressional elections.
Federal Court Faults Alabama Map for Racially Discriminatory Intent
After completing a full trial, a federal court in Alabama found that Alabama’s 2023 congressional map violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and was enacted with racially discriminatory intent. This ruling ensures that the Alabama map must include two districts where Black voters have the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice (like the map ordered by the court in October 2023) for the remainder of the decade. The court-drawn map used in the 2024 elections resulted in the election of two Black representatives to Congress for the first time in history.
The court’s decision follows several challenges where voters argued that Alabama’s congressional districts violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting Black voting power. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed in a 2023 ruling that the plaintiffs were likely to prevail on that claim, and in its decision in Allen v. Milligan, required the creation of a second opportunity district that resulted in the current map. Despite earlier decisions, Alabama insisted on a trial of and once again the Court ruled against its congressional map as unfairly harming Black voters. In this recent decision, the court ruled that Alabama had intentionally discriminated against its Black citizens in enacting the map.
UPCOMING EVENTS
NYC Charter Revision Commission
The NYC Charter Revision Commission is considering including a proposal on the city ballot to open its closed primary system to independent voters who currently cannot vote in party primary elections. Public hearing are being held for comment:
- Queens, Weds 5/28: Helen Marshall Cultural Center at Queens Borough Hall, 120-55 Queens Blvd 11415
- Bronx, Tues 6/10: 3rd Floor Café in Building C / East Academic Complex at Hostos Community College, 450 Grand Concourse 10451
- Staten Island, Mon 6/23: Main Hall in Building B at Snug Harbor Cultural Center, 1000 Richmond Terrace 10301
- Manhattan, Mon 7/7: Langston Hughes Auditorium at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard 10037
Comments can also be sent to:https://www.nycopenprimary.com/take-action-crc
May 29- 2025 Primary Election Preview
Join Max Politics and FAQ NYC podcasts – Ben Max, Christina Greer, Katie Honan, and Harry Siegel – for a special 2025 New York City primary election preview event with political analysis, special guests, audience participation, and more.
The evening will feature the latest analysis of the Democratic primary for Mayor and other races to watch, reminders about ranked-choice voting, plenty of audience Q&A, and more.
This event is hosted by The Center for New York City and State Law at New York Law School. To attend, register here: https://nyls.wufoo.com/forms/qxmjtbs0nexll7/
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 and the New York City Council. This report was prepared by Jeff Wice, Jarret Berg, and Alexis Marking.