Judge Rules In Town Of Islip Voting Rights Case

TOWN OF ISLIP, NY — A settlement was recently reached in the federal voting rights case filed by Latino residents of the Town of Islip. Earlier this month, Judge Gary Brown ruled that the town's voting system was in violation of the Voting Rights Act, which Latino residents claimed deprived them of representation within the town. As a result, the at-large voting structure will now be replaced with four councilmanic districts. With this method, each Town Board member well represent a specific district within the town, one of which will be centered in Brentwood and which will be majority-Latino.

The case, Flores v. The Town of Islip, was filed the Latino residents of Islip, along with Make the Road New York and New York Communities for Change, who serve the Latino residents of Islip.

The group is suing the Town of Islip and the Islip Town Board, alleging that the town government's current at-large voting structure denies Latinos representation and is in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

According to FairVote.org a single-member district system, the most commonly used for legislative elections in the United States, is when the candidate with the most votes in a geographic location is declared the winner. However, the splitting of the geographical votes can potentially result in misrepresented parties, manufactured majorities, an increase in gerrymandering, lower voter turnout, higher levels of wasted votes, and lack of fair representation to third parties, racial minorities and women, the website says.

According to Brown, under that system, members of the Hispanic or Latino minority group in Islip have "less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice."

"I am so excited that we will now finally have representation for our Brentwood community," Maria Magdalena Hernandez, plaintiff and member of Make the Road New York, said. "For decades, we have not had someone in the Town Board fighting for our rights and needs--we were treated as second-class citizens, as we saw most clearly when toxic waste was dumped in our park. Now, we will be able to elect a candidate of our choice looking out for our community."

In addition, under the settlement terms in the regular town board elections in 2021, candidates for the two seats up for election will be elected from Districts 1 and 2, in which District 1 is the new Brentwood-centered, Latino-majority district. Also before the regular town board elections in 2023, the board will redraw the four districts so that the difference between the most populous and least populous district is no more than 10 percent of the ideal district size, based on total population under the 2020 Census. In addition, during the election candidates for the two seats up for election will be elected from the remaining two districts, as modified by redistricting based on the 2020 Census.

Councilmembers will continue to serve staggered, four-year terms and be elected from the four districts, as modified by redistricting based on the 2020 Census. In addition, under the settlement, the town will pay plaintiffs $900,000 in fees, costs, and expenses. Otherwise, each party to bear its own fees, costs, and expenses.

"At long last, democracy in town government is arriving for the citizens of Brentwood," Assemblyman Phil Ramos, who represents New York’s sixth assembly district, said. "Our duly elected councilperson will respond to us, and advocate for our working families, small businesses, and young people. Through the powerful work of our community members, the days of saturating our community with power plants, cell phone towers, contaminated parks, and garbage transfer stations will end.