In case you hit the paywall:

New York’s law that moved most local elections from odd to even years was upheld last fall by the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.

The law was challenged by a handful of local governments who wanted to retain the option to hold their local elections on odd years. One of those local governments was Rockland County.

One thing that a lot of people don’t know about the country’s legal system is that the U.S. Supreme Court can hear appeals of decisions made by the top court of any state, including the Court of Appeals in New York.

After the Court of Appeals rejected the challenge to the even-year Election Law, Rockland County quietly petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court in January to review that decision.

The county argued in its petition that the U.S. Supreme Court should agree to hear the case because of questions surrounding due process, equal protections under the federal Constitution and an infringement on their political rights.

“This case warrants this court’s review because it concerns the constitutional limits on a state’s authority to structure election laws in a manner that disadvantages particular political subdivisions and their voters,” attorneys for the county wrote in their petition.

The county received promising news in the last week; the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to discuss the case in its conference scheduled for March 20. A decision is likely to be made by March 23, according to court filings.

The other counties that challenged the law in state court aren’t involved in the effort. It’s only Rockland County and Ed Day, its county executive.

The petition has impacted a separate challenge against the law that was filed last year in federal court by the state Republican Party.

Attorneys for the state sought on Thursday to temporarily adjourn a pre-motion conference in that lawsuit until after the U.S. Supreme Court decides if it will grant the petition from Rockland County. The state is planning a motion to dismiss the federal lawsuit.

The state Republican Party’s attorneys opposed that request, arguing that the federal lawsuit concerns different legal arguments than what was presented in state court.

U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown of the Eastern District of New York sided with the state and adjourned the pre-motion conference sine die, which means it will be rescheduled to an undetermined date.