Local elections will start having to compete with national and state elections for attention starting in 2025.

The state Assembly and Senate approved legislation late Friday night as the state legislative session ground to close moving most town, village and county elections from odd years to even years so they will be on the same ballot as state and presidential elections. Democrats say the move streamlines elections and could boost voter turnout for local elections while Republicans argued the change isn’t necessary and is opposed by most local governments.

Assembly members approved A.4282 by an 89-57 vote, with some Democrats voting with Republicans against the legislation. Vote totals for the Senate weren’t available Monday, but the measure was approved with Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, voting against S.3505. Assemblyman Joe Giglio, R-Gowanda, and Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown, both voted against the legislation in the Assembly, with Goodell arguing there will still be odd-year elections for some races as well as arguing the state didn’t need to take any action because local governments can set their own election cycles.

“So if we don’t have a problem that’s been brought to our attention by the local officials and the local officials don’t need us to act because they already have the authority to act on their own and we’re not eliminating any election cycles, why are we spending 4.5 hours on this debate?” Goodell asked.

“Why are are we doing it? Wouldn’t our time be better spent focusing on how we can address problems that are brought to our attention by local officials rather than shoving our will down their throat?”

The legislation would take effect in 2025 with some elected officials serving shorter terms in order to shift the elections to even years. The legislation also changes the ballot by establishing a structure all counties will use to list the offices up for election. Executive positions like the President of the United States and Governor go first, followed by other federal and state offices. All candidates who do not have an affiliation to a political office or are judicial candidates who are viewed as non-partisan, would be listed on the latter half of the ballot.

Supporters say there could be cost savings for county boards of elections by not having off-year elections, but that may not be the case. The state Constitution doesn’t allow changes for several offices — including county clerks, district attorneys, county sheriffs and town justices — while cities are allowed to continue holding their elections in odd years. New York City is currently not affected, though Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, said she would like to force the city to change its election schedule as well.

Voter turnout tends to be higher in presidential election years than midterm years or odd-year elections that tend to be dominated by local elections.

“I have heard my colleagues,” said Sen. James Skoufis, D-Cornwall, and the bill’s Senate sponsor. “I appreciate the dialogue and the debate. You know, this specter of politics as a motivation kept coming up although I’m curious why that wasn’t incorporated into any of questions. If it was, the response would have been simple: how and why? How is higher voter turnout somehow politically motivated? What is anyone afraid of with higher voter turnout? Why is that better for Democrats? More people voting? I think that’s a question that we’ll have to ask ourselves. we should all be in pursuit of and in support of higher voter turnout.”

Versions of A.4282 and S. 3505 have been introduced in the Senate since 2013, though the 2021-22 legislative session was the first time a companion bill had been introduced in the state Assembly. Borrello asked during his comments on the Senate floor why the bill got so much support over the past two years.

“You know, often times in Albany we have solutions in search of a problem. and that’s what this really is,” Borrello said. “But usually, there is at least some kind of a special interest group, and we have got advocates in these halls all the time but I have yet to hear one coming out with a chant that, ‘We are here for even years. We are here for even years!’ Nobody, and I mean nobody, wants to have these elections moved to even years. You know who doesn’t want them to even years? People that execute these elections for us. The first person that I heard from about this bill was the Democrat election commissioner in my county that I live in. And she said, ‘Don’t do this.'”