NEW YORK, March 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- For two years, New York's Even Year Election Law has been a flashpoint — pitting those who say consolidating local elections with federal cycles boosts turnout against those who say it buries local democracy beneath national political noise.

Today, that fight enters a new and decisive phase.

The United States Supreme Court this morning declined to hear the state court challenge to the law. That decision clears the path for the federal lawsuit led by William A. Brewer III of Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors on behalf of a broad coalition of Republican committees, counties, municipalities, local candidates, and voters across New York.

The federal claims are straightforward: the Even Year Election Law violates the First Amendment, and it undermines the voting rights of minority communities under the Voting Rights Act. These are not arguments that have been tested or decided anywhere. They will be now.

"The State rested its claim preclusion strategy on the state court proceedings to delay the federal case," said Brewer. "That strategy has run its course. There is no longer any pretense for delay. We represent a coalition of plaintiffs whose federal claims have never been heard on the merits — and we look forward to changing that."

At the heart of the First Amendment argument is a simple idea: local elections exist to give communities their own space to debate local issues — schools, roads, public safety — free from the overwhelming gravity of presidential and congressional campaigns. The Even Year Election Law, plaintiffs argue, deliberately destroys that space.

The case is pending before U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown in the Eastern District of New York. The next steps will be scheduled shortly.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/brewer-attorneys--counselors-new-yorks-even-year-election-law-the-federal-fight-begins-302722642.html

SOURCE Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors