Newburgh Settles Voting Suit, Adopts Proportional Ranked-Choice, Pays $1.6 Million

The Town of Newburgh agreed to replace its at-large method for electing a five-member Town Board with a proportional ranked-choice voting system and to pay $1.6 million in attorney fees and costs as part of a settlement in Clarke v. Town of Newburgh, a state judge approved Feb. 25 by Justice Nancy Quinn Koba in Westchester County.

Plaintiffs in the case were Oral Clarke, Romance Reed, Grace Perez, Peter Ramon, Ernest Tirado and Dorothy Flournoy; the suit filed in March 2024 alleged Newburgh’s at-large elections diluted the voting power of Black and Hispanic residents. Recordonline estimated Newburgh’s 2025 population at roughly 25 percent Hispanic and 15 percent Black, a demographic context central to the plaintiffs’ allegation of vote dilution under the New York Voting Rights Act.

The litigation advanced through appeals, with Abrams Fensterman counsel saying the case “advanced through appeal, culminating in a unanimous decision from the New York Court of Appeals rejecting the Town’s constitutional challenge to the law.” Less than 24 hours before trial was set to begin, parties reached the consent agreement; Recordonline reported the trial had been scheduled for Feb. 23, and Abrams issued a press release announcing the settlement on Feb. 27.

Settlement terms state the town will “replace its prior at-large electoral system with proportional ranked-choice voting for Town Board seats,” with the new system to be used beginning with elections in 2027. Town Board membership and timing will not change: the board remains five members, including the town supervisor, serving four-year terms. The town did not concede a violation of the NYVRA; the consent decree language published by The Center Square reads in part: “Without conceding a violation of the New York Voting Rights Act and while denying all of plaintiffs' allegations, defendants agree to adopt a ranked choice voting electoral system to resolve this litigation.”

Sources describe the $1.6 million payment in slightly different terms: Recordonline and Spectrum report the amount as plaintiffs' attorney fees and costs totaling $1.6 million, while The Center Square described the consent decree as requiring the town to “pay the six defendants collectively $1.6 million.” The settlement also followed a unanimous New York Court of Appeals decision referenced by plaintiffs’ counsel.

Proportional ranked-choice voting in Newburgh will allow voters to rank candidates and uses single transferable vote-style counting with surplus transfers and rounds of elimination until seats are filled; Hudson Valley Post noted voters will not be required to rank every candidate and may choose to mark only one. Administration of the new system will be carried out by the Town or the Orange County Board of Elections, and the Newburgh council voted earlier that week to accept the consent decree and begin developing the ranked-choice system for the next election cycle, according to The Center Square.

Plaintiff Ernest Tirado tied the remedy to local representation, saying, “Eventually, we're going to get some representation.” Abrams’ statement highlighted the settlement’s broader legal significance: “The settlement marks the first case resolved entirely under the New York State Voting Rights Act, a law enacted in 2022 to prevent discriminatory election practices such as vote dilution.” With the consent decree in place and judicial approval recorded Feb. 25, Newburgh is preparing implementation steps ahead of the 2027 elections.