ºìÐÓÊÓƵ

The Town of Newburgh, New York, elects members to its Town Board with an at-large voting system. That system has denied Latino and Black voters an opportunity to elect candidates of their choice.

In 2024, several individual Latino and Black voters sued to challenge Newburgh’s discriminatory at-large voting system. Their lawsuit made use of New York’s John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York (NYVRA), a state statute that protects the freedom to vote for all New Yorkers by, among other things, preventing discriminatory voting laws and practices from being enacted.

The Town of Newburgh has defended against the plaintiffs’ lawsuit by claiming that the NYVRA is unconstitutional and violates the equal protection guarantees of the U.S. and New York Constitutions. In late 2024, a trial court agreed and declared the statute unconstitutional. That ruling was overturned on appeal.

The Town of Newburgh has appealed the issue of the NYVRA’s constitutionality to the New York Court of Appeals—the State’s highest court. The ºìÐÓÊÓƵ, NYCLU, and ºìÐÓÊÓƵ California affiliates have filed an amicus brief to argue that the NYVRA does not discriminate: it simply bans discrimination in voting, which is needed to protect New Yorker’s most fundamental right.