State Sen. Darius Brown (D-New Castle) reintroduces efforts to add early voting, mail-in voting and permanent absentee voting to the Delaware Constitution after a similar attempt failed last year.
Mail-in voting, same-day voter registration, permanent absentee voting and early voting have all been struck down by Delaware courts in recent years.
Only early voting and permanent absentee voting returned after the Delaware Supreme Court found the plaintiffs in that case lacked proper standing, but the merits of the case remain untouched.
Voting rights advocates and some lawmakers argue this leaves the right to early voting and permanent absentee status unprotected, unless the voting procedures are added to Delaware’s Constitution.
Sen. Brown introduced a constitutional amendment addressing those two voting procedures — along with no-excuse or absentee voting — last year, but with Republicans claiming support only for early voting and not permanent absentee or mail-in voting, the amendment failed.
Sen. Brown is trying again this year, this time with two separate amendments: one for early voting and one for absentee voting.
“I do not think Delawareans need to tell a story to be able to vote absentee, and currently, that is the case for the Delawareans that vote absentee," Sen. Brown said during the Senate Elections and Government Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
Part of what makes the voting rights codification process unusually complicated is the fact that Delaware, unlike many other states, has the six excuses necessary to request an absentee ballot request outlined the in state constitution, rather than in its code.
Those excuses include being in the public service of the United States or of Delaware — or being a spouse or dependent of someone in service — the nature of one's business or occupation, sickness or physical disability, absence from the district while on vacation or religious reasons.
Sen. Brown's constitutional amendment would void these excuses and allow anyone to request an absentee ballot as long as they are a qualified voter.
The amendment would also enshrine permanent absentee status, allowing voters to register to receive an absentee ballot for every election without having to file individual requests. This provision is largely for members of the military or those with physical disabilities.
Republican lawmakers have repeatedly expressed support for early voting up to 10 days before an election but are not as keen on no-excuse or permanent absentee voting.
State Sen. Bryant Richardson (R-Seaford) believes mail-in voting is not necessary with the permanent adoption of early voting.
"I'm certainly in favor of [the early voting amendment]. I think this kind of eliminates the need for the next bill though — the no-excuse absentee voting," Sen. Bryant said during the committee hearing.
Several members of the public came and spoke in favor of both bills — no members of the public testified in opposition.
Both of Sen. Brown's constitutional amendments were voted out of committee and now head to the full Senate for consideration. With a Democratic supermajority, the amendments can pass without any Republican support in the Senate, but at least one GOP representative will need to support both measures if they reach the House.
If the amendments are passed in their entirety, they will still need to be passed for a second time in the next General Assembly to be officially added to Delaware's Constitution.
State Rep. Bill Bush (D-Dover) has introduced an additional amendment that would constitutionalize same-day voter registration, which is currently not accessible in Delaware.
Close to half of U.S. states offer some form of same-day registration, and Rep. Bush believes its time for Delaware to join them.
“Same-day registration has been successfully implemented in several states for decades and has proven to increase voter turnout safely and effectively,” he said in a statement. “The Delaware Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling made it clear that we need a constitutional amendment to allow for same-day registration, and this legislation will make sure the General Assembly can take that step to make voting easier and more accessible for Delawareans.”
Currently, Delaware law sets the last day to register before an election at the “fourth Saturday prior to the date of the election,” close to a month before Election Day.
The bill would also require the General Assembly to ensure that any laws passed include measures to protect the accuracy and integrity of voter registration, such as requiring voters to present valid photo identification or documents that verify their name and address.
State Rep. Stephanie T. Bolden (D-Wilmington) is introducing a bill to move up the statewide primary date for the tenth time.
Delaware is tied for last place in the lateness of its statewide primary and this bill would move the date of Delaware primary elections for statewide, county and municipal offices — currently held in early September — to the same date of the presidential primary in April.
The legislation has been repeatedly voted out of the House with virtually unanimous support, but the bill has either failed or stalled in the Senate year after year.
Rep. Bolden has long attested that making the statewide primary coincide with the presidential primary will save the state over a million dollars among other benefits.
Her bill awaits consideration on the House Floor while Rep. Bush's constitutional amendment still needs its initial hearing the the House Administration Committee.
