Covered Entities Under The New York Voting Rights Act

Topics covered

Cities

Towns

Below is the list of covered entities identified by Office of the New York State Attorney General as of May 27, 2025.

A “covered entity” shall include:

(a) any political subdivision which, within the previous twenty-five years, has become subject to a court order or government enforcement action based upon a finding of any violation of this title, the federal voting rights act, the fifteenth amendment to the United States constitution, or a voting-related violation of the fourteenth amendment to the United States constitution;

(b) any political subdivision which, within the previous twenty-five years, has become subject to at least three court orders or government enforcement actions based upon a finding of any violation of any state or federal civil rights law or the fourteenth amendment to the United States constitution concerning discrimination against members of a protected class;

(c) any county in which, based on data provided by the division of criminal justice services, the combined misdemeanor and felony arrest rate of voting age members of any protected class consisting of at least ten thousand citizens of voting age or whose members comprise at least ten percent of the citizen voting age population of the county, exceeds the proportion that the protected class constitutes of the citizen voting age population of the county as a whole by at least twenty percentage points at any point within the previous ten years;

(d) any political subdivision in which, based on data made available by the United States census, the dissimilarity index of any protected class consisting of at least twenty-five thousand citizens of voting age or whose members comprise at least ten percent of the citizen voting age population of the political subdivision, is in excess of fifty with respect to non-Hispanic white individuals within the political subdivision at any point within the previous ten years;

(e) any political subdivision in which a board of elections has been established, if such political subdivision contains a covered entity fully within its borders; or

(f) any board of elections that has been established in a political subdivision that is a covered entity pursuant to paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d) or (e) of this subdivision.

See N.Y. Elec. Law § 17-210(3).

Counties

Covered entity	Detail
Albany^{A, C, D, E, F}	Paragraph (a) Pope v. Cnty. of Albany, Case No. 11-CV-0736, 94 F. Supp. 3d 302 (N.D.N.Y. 2015) Paragraph (c) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (e) Covered because it contains the following covered entities within its borders: City of Albany, and Albany City School District Paragraph (f) Covers the Albany County Board of Elections
Bronx^D	Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023
Erie^{A, C, D, E, F}	Paragraph (a) Mohr v. Erie Cnty. Legis., Case No. 11-CV-559, 2011 WL 3421326 (W.D.N.Y. 2011) Paragraph (c) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (e) Covered because it contains the following covered entities within its borders: City of Buffalo, Town of Cheektowaga, and Buffalo City School District Paragraph (f) Covers the Erie County Board of Elections
Kings^{C, D}	Paragraph (c) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023
Monroe^{C, D, E, F}	Paragraph (c) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (e) Covered because it contains the following covered entities within its borders: City of Rochester, and Rochester City School District Paragraph (f) Covers the Monroe County Board of Elections
Nassau^{C, D, E, F}	Paragraph (c) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (e) Covered because it contains the following covered entities within its borders: Town of Hempstead Paragraph (f) Covers the Nassau County Board of Elections
Niagara^{C, F}	Paragraph (c) Covered most recently as of 2022 Paragraph (f) Covers the Niagara County Board of Elections
New York^{C, D}	Paragraph (c) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023
Onondaga^{C, D, F}	Paragraph (c) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (f) Covers the Onondaga County Board of Elections
Orange^{A, F}	Paragraph (a) Molina v. Cnty. of Orange, Case No. 13-CV-3018, 2013 WL 3009716 (S.D.N.Y. 2013). Paragraph (f) Covers the Orange County Board of Elections
Putnam^{C, F}	Paragraph (c) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (f) Covers the Putnam County Board of Elections
Queens^D	Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023
Richmond^{C, D}	Paragraph (c) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023
Rockland^{C, D, E, F}	Paragraph (c) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (e) Covered because it contains the following covered entities within its borders: Town of Ramapo, and East Ramapo Central School District Paragraph (f) Covers the Rockland County Board of Elections
Schenectady^{C, D, F}	Paragraph (c) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (f) Covers the Schenectady County Board of Elections
Suffolk^{A, C, D, E, F}	Paragraph (a) Flores v. Town of Islip, Case No. 18-CV-3549, 2020 WL 6060982 (E.D.N.Y. 2020) Paragraph (c) Covered most recently as of 2021 Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (e) Covered because it contains the following covered entities within its borders: Town of Babylon, Town of Islip, and Brentwood Union Free School District Paragraph (f) Covers the Suffolk County Board of Elections
Westchester^{A, C, D, E, F}	Paragraph (a) United States v. Westchester Cnty., Case No. 05-CV-0650 (S.D.N.Y. filed Jan. 19, 2005), ECF No. 31 (filed Jan. 3, 2008) Paragraph (c) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (e) Covered because it contains the following covered entities within its borders: City of Mount Vernon, City of New Rochelle, City of Yonkers, Town of Greenburgh, Village of Port Chester, and Mount Vernon City School District Paragraph (f) Covers the Westchester County Board of Elections

Cities

Covered entities	Detail
Albany^D	Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2021
Buffalo^D	Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023
Mount Vernon^D	Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023
New Rochelle^A	New Rochelle Voter Defense Fund v. City of New Rochelle, Case No. 03-CV3965, 308 F. Supp. 2d 152 (S.D.N.Y. 2003)
New York City^{B, D, E, F}	Paragraph (b) United States v. City of New York, Case No. 07-CV-2067, 637 F. Supp. 2d 77 (E.D.N.Y. 2009) Floyd v. City of New York, Case No. 08-CV-1034, 959 F. Supp. 2d 540 (S.D.N.Y. 2013) People v. Morant, Case No. 4904/1995, 136 N.Y.S.3d 685 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2020) Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023 Paragraph (e) Covered because it contains the following covered entities within its borders: Bronx County, Kings County, New York County, Queens County, and Richmond County Paragraph (f) Covers the New York City Board of Elections
Rochester^{A, D}	Paragraph (a) Mains v. City of Rochester, Case No. 03-CV-6363, 2004 WL 1663997 (W.D.N.Y. 2004) Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023
Yonkers^D	Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023

Towns

Covered entities	Detail
Babylon^D	Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023
Cheektowaga^D	Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2019
Greenburgh^D	Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2022
Hempstead^D	Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023
Islip^{A, D}	Paragraph (a) Flores v. Town of Islip, Case No. 18-CV-3549, 2020 WL 6060982 (E.D.N.Y. 2020) Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023
Ramapo^D	Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023

Villages

Covered entities

Detail

Port Chester^A

Paragraph (a)
United States v. Village of Port Chester, Case No. 06-CV-15173, 704 F

Supp. 2d 411 (S.D.N.Y. 2010)

School districts

Albany City School District^D	Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2021
Brentwood Union Free School District^A	Paragraph (a) United States v. The Brentwood Union Free School Dist., Case No. 03-CV02775 (E.D.N.Y. filed June 4, 2003), ECF No. 4 (filed July 16, 2003)
Buffalo City School District^D	Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023
East Ramapo Central School District^{A, D}	Paragraph (a) NAACP, Spring Valley Branch et al. v. East Ramapo Central School Dist., 462 F. Supp. 3d 368 (S.D.N.Y. 2020) Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023
Mount Vernon School District^D	Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023
Rochester City School District^D	Paragraph (d) Covered most recently as of 2023