Delaware House lawmakers overwhelmingly approved constitutional amendments to codify early voting and no-excuse absentee voting.
One amendment - Senate Bill 2 - was introduced last year and passed by the Senate.
Its House sponsor William Bush explains what it would do on the floor:
"The bill places in our constitution our current practice of early voting," he said.
Early voting occurs on the 10 calendar days before an election, including the Saturday and Sunday before.
Delaware currently has early voting, but it was recently challenged in court. The state Supreme Court upheld early voting, but on the narrow grounds the plaintiffs did not have standing.
The House approved the early voting amendment 39-1 with 1 absent.
House lawmakers also approved a constitutional amendment to codify absentee voting, but added an amendment, sending it back to the State Senate for approval.
The amended Senate Bill 3– also sponsored by State Rep. William Bush – guarantees people can vote by absentee ballot without an excuse.
Right now, absentee voting is limited to certain circumstances by Delaware law, but Bush says this measure would make it available to any Delawarean.
"This specifically puts the no-excuse absentee in the Constitution," he said. "I think it's a great concept....As part of discussions to ensure the passage of this bill and the concerns of some parties, we have removed the permanent absentee status from this act."
The amended version requires people request an absentee ballot from the Department of Elections every election cycle.
This constitutional amendment is a response to a 2022 effort to expand absentee voting, but Delaware’s Superior Court said the state’s constitution could not be overruled by a new statute.
The measure passed 33-7 with 1 absent and heads back to the State Senate to vote on the amended version.
Both measures are the first leg of an amendment and will need to pass both chambers again in a separate legislative session to become law.
