A judge has ruled in favor of New York Attorney General Tish James in a lawsuit filed last month against the Rensselaer County Board of Elections and its commissioners claiming officials failed to provide voters with adequate and equitable access to early voting poll sites.
James, a Democrat, alleged when the Board selected early voting sites, it ignored criteria required by New York’s early voting law in deciding not to place more sites in Troy – the county’s population center and home to the majority of the county’s minorities.
A Rensselaer County Supreme Court judge found that move was “arbitrary and capricious,” and ordered the Board of Elections to select a site by Wednesday to provide voters access in the June 22 primary.
Advocates like Troy NAACP President Renee Powell had long pressed for the change.
“This coalition has been communicating with the Rensselaer County Board of Election commissioners for at least three years to create an equitable opportunity for all people to vote to no avail," said Powell.
Early voting begins June 12.
