LAKE PLACID — Rick Preston is running unopposed for North Elba town supervisor. In all likelihood, he’ll be elected in November and sworn in come January.

But, if a new state law is upheld by the courts, Preston would have just a few weeks in office before he’d need to start running for the position again.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation in 2023 to move the elections in odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, in an attempt to increase voter turnout. Even-year elections would start next year.

Because of this, if an office is to be elected for a two-year term this year, the winner would only get a one-year term and need to run again next year, an even year. This would cut their term in half. If the office is to be elected for a four-year term this year, they would only get a three-year term and need to run again in 2028. This would cut their term by one-quarter.

The law is currently being debated in court, though, with a verdict expected next month.

It would mostly affect town offices — town supervisor, town board members, town clerk and highway superintendent — as well as a couple of county offices — county executive, comptroller and legislator.

It would not apply to village offices, school boards, sheriffs, county clerks, district attorneys and a range of judge positions. Also, seats with three-year terms would be exempt. People currently serving who are not up for election this year would fill out the remainder of their terms.

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Local offices affected

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Franklin County has supervisor seats with two-year terms up for election in Bombay, Brighton, Dickinson, Fort Covington, Franklin, Moira, Santa Clara and Waverly.

There are supervisors with four-year terms up for election in Bangor, Bellmont, Brandon, Burke, Chateaugay, Constable, Duane, Harrietstown, Malone, Tupper Lake and Westville.

All 19 towns in Franklin County have two council members each up for election. Each of these terms is for four years.

All seven Franklin County legislator seats are up for election, but they serve three-year terms, so they are exempt.

In Franklin County, there are town clerk races in Bangor, Bombay, Burke, Dickinson, Constable, Duane, Franklin, Fort Covington, Harrietstown, Moira, Wavery, Santa Clara and Westville. There are highway superintendent races in Brighton, Bombay, Burke, Constable, Dickinson, Duane, Fort Covington, Franklin, Harrietstown, Malone, Moira, Waverly and Westville.

Essex County has supervisor seats with two-year terms up for election in Crown Point, Elizabethtown, Essex, Moriah, Newcomb, North Elba, Schroon, Ticonderoga, Willsboro and Wilmington.

There are supervisors with four-year terms up for election in Jay, Keene, Lewis, Minerva and St. Armand.

All 18 towns in Essex County have councilmembers up for election. Each of these terms are for four years.

Essex County town supervisors serve double-duty as county representatives for their towns.

In Essex County, there are town clerk races for four-year terms in Elizabethtown, Jay, Keene, Lewis, Minerva, Newcomb, St. Armand and Wilmington. There are town clerk races for two-year terms in Essex and Willsboro. There are highway superintendent races for four-year terms in Jay, Keene, Lewis, Minerva, St. Armand and Wilmington. There are highway superintendent races for two-year terms in Crown Point, Essex, Newcomb and Willsboro.

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Impact

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“From an actual voter experience, nothing’s going to change,” Essex County Republican Election Commissioner Roy Holzer said.

But, from what he’s heard, Holzer said local elected officials are not too keen on the change.

Officials with two-year terms whose parties hold primary elections would be elected to office in November, sworn into office in January and have to start circulating petitions in February to get on the primary election ballot in June. They’d need to do this to run for reelection for a full two-year term next November if they want to keep their seat.

Preston’s a little disappointed, to be honest. It took 90 signatures to get on the Republican line and 170 for an independent party line filing.

“That’s a lot of time going door to door and getting signatures only to do it again,” Preston said.

When he started gathering signatures, the courts had overturned the law. For now, the law is still standing. But it wouldn’t have had any impact on his decision to run, Preston said. He has been on the town board for one four-year term and decided to run when current town Supervisor Derek Doty said he wasn’t running for reelection.

Democrats have it easier in North Elba, Preston said. They do caucuses instead of primaries, which take less time. He doesn’t mind collecting signatures to get on the ballot. He’s done it a lot before.

“It’s different now,” Preston said. “COVID changed everything. People are skeptical when you go knocking on their door now. It’s not as fun as it used to be.”

He’s on the ballot on the Republican and Democratic lines. He dropped his independent line to take both major party endorsements.

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Impact debate

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The bill states that holding certain local elections in odd-numbered years leads to “voter confusion” and contributes to low voter turnout in local elections.

“Studies have consistently shown that voter turnout is the highest on the November election day in even-numbered years when elections for state and/or federal offices are held,” the bill states.

Personally, Holzer believes having local elections in odd-numbered years produces better voter engagement.

“Throwing these small towns in with even-year elections like presidential and governor’s races, it’s just grouping them all together,” Holzer said.

His worry is that local elections will get lost in the shuffle, that voters will be overloaded with information about the bigger races, with less time to research and understand the issues in the local races.

Holzer also said, with people more polarized, they tend to just vote down party line when they don’t know the candidates.

“Whether you’re Republican or Democrat, I think most local people that hold these positions are interested more in good government than party politics,” Holzer said.

He’s worried that this will bring in political division local races have been “insulated” from by having separate elections.

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Lawsuit

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The law is being challenged in court, though. Several counties, led by Republican Onondaga County officials, filed a lawsuit challenging the law. They argue that the law is unconstitutional and violates local counties’ ability to have “home rule” — or, the ability to make decisions about things like elections for themselves.

The debate is over who can set the term lengths for local offices — the county or the state.

A state Supreme Court judge initially ruled that they were correct. The state appealed in the Appellate Division, won and the decision was reversed. The Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court, is currently hearing this case.

Oral arguments for this case were heard on Sept. 8.

Court of Appeals Deputy Clerk Maggie Wood said, generally speaking, the court tries to hand down a decision in the session after it was argued. The court’s next session starts on Oct. 14. This means the court’s decision to uphold or overturn the law could come around a month before Election Day. The decision could also come after the election and impact terms retroactively, though.