Suffolk County voters have accepted a controversial GOP proposal to double county legislators’ phrases from two to 4 years — organising a authorized showdown as native Democrats transfer to overturn the outcomes.
The proposed time period extension, accepted below final week’s poll Proposition 2, included the stipulation that the county lawmakers elected this 12 months will serve three-year phrases earlier than they face re-election in 2028, to line up with the timing of of races for different workplaces.
A brand new state regulation lately modified native election years to align with presidential elections.
However Democratic leaders declare the Suffolk referendum is unconstitutional because it would alter the phrases of candidates who have been voted into workplace final week for a two-year stint, and they’re vowing to problem it in courtroom.
“I imagine that it will likely be discovered unconstitutional and that then the races must be run once more subsequent 12 months,” Democratic Occasion Chairman Wealthy Schaffer advised Newsday.
Republicans who pushed the measure are defending it as a sensible repair to the state’s new regulation.
In July, Republican County Government Ed Romaine cleared the way in which for the referendum to look on this 12 months’s poll for the voters to approve.
Romaine’s measure additionally adjusted the county legislature’s 12-year term-limit regulation on members in order that incumbents hitting that mark mid-term below the brand new proposition’s pointers can serve out the remainder of their freshly lengthened closing time period.
“This vital measure ensures that our elected leaders can stay targeted on serving the individuals and tackling the actual challenges going through our communities,” Romaine stated in when he signed the invoice.
However Democratic leaders argue the change is the equal of transferring the goalposts mid-game, giving present officeholders additional time in energy.
They declare it flagrantly violates the state structure, which bars altering the phrases of officers who’re already elected or on the poll.
Schaffer revealed that he plans to file a lawsuit within the coming weeks looking for to invalidate the referendum’s vote — a transfer that would throw the newly elected legislature into limbo and power one other countywide election subsequent 12 months.
However Republicans insist the proposal was correctly vetted and handed with bipartisan help within the legislature earlier than going to voters.
“It’s all craziness,” stated Legislator and Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey, who is ready to hit his time period limits on the finish of the 12 months.
Voters beforehand shot down a virtually an identical measure in 2020 by a 70% margin, however this 12 months’s model handed after Republicans threw the celebration’s full weight behind it whereas campaigning this election cycle.
