New York's Second Appellate Division found a state law intended to prevent local officials from enacting rules that might suppress people's voting rights because of their race is constitutional, reversing a state Supreme Court decision in Orange County late last year that had struck down the law entirely.

The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, named after the late civil rights activist who represented Georgia in the U.S. House of Representatives, was passed by the New York state Legislature in 2022 and aims to bring back a version of what was known as “preclearance” that was gutted from the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 by a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2013.

Under that provision, states and counties with a record of suppressing the rights of Black voters once had to seek U.S. Justice Department approval before changing voting rules. The state law, in a similar fashion, mandates that local governments or school districts with a record of discrimination in New York must gain approval from state officials in order to pass certain voting policies.

The state Supreme Court in November ruled New York’s law violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits a state from depriving “any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

Since federal statute is supreme to any state law, the court ruled to strike down the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act in its entirety. The Second Appellate Division ruled that "as the defendants do not dispute, even if the vote dilution provisions of the NYVRA did violate the Equal Protection Clause, the Supreme Court had no authority to invalidate the remaining portions of the NYVRA."

“Our democracy thrives when all voters, regardless of their background, can make their voices heard at the ballot box. I am pleased with today’s decision upholding the constitutionality of New York’s John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act so that all New York voters can fairly and equally participate in our elections," state Attorney General Letitia James, who defended the law in court, said in a statement. "My office will always protect and defend the constitutionality of our laws and New Yorkers’ most sacred right to vote.”