NEWBURGH, New York — A lawsuit accusing the Town of Newburgh of diluting the voting power of Black and Hispanic residents will move forward after New York’s highest court rejected the town’s attempt to halt the case. The state Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that Newburgh lacked standing to challenge a central provision of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, clearing the way for residents’ claims to be heard in court.
The underlying lawsuit, filed earlier this year, argues that Newburgh’s at-large Town Board election system weakens the influence of minority voters. Plaintiffs note that despite Black and Hispanic residents representing more than one-third of the town’s population, no candidate from either group has ever been elected to the council. Their attorneys, including David Imamura of Abrams Fensterman, said the ruling safeguards protections intended by the 2022 state law.
The decision also reinstates an earlier Appellate Division finding that reversed a lower-court judge who had attempted to invalidate the state voting-rights statute. The appellate panel determined that the judge exceeded her authority when striking down the law in full, allowing the plaintiffs’ claims of vote dilution to proceed.
The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act was enacted to reestablish safeguards weakened by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013, requiring jurisdictions with a history of discrimination to notify state officials before altering local election rules. The Newburgh case is expected to test how those provisions function in municipal governance.
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