Despite ten months between Delaware’s Board of Elections meeting this week and its last one in November 2025, the election commissioner reports being on track for next month’s primary and early voting.
Election commissioner Anthony Albence said the state hit one of its first election deadlines for the season on August 1st, "as we normally do."
Under the Uniformed Overseas Citizens Absentee Vote Act, Delaware sent absentee ballots to overseas service members and citizens 45 days before the primary.
"We had no issues reaching or satisfying that deadline," he said.
But Albence said Delaware's primary falls on Sept. 15, one of the latest in country. Certification for its results falls on the 18th. And it puts the state on a tight timeline to get absentee ballots for the general election sent out by the Sept. 19th deadline.
"So it is quite tight," he said. "...We don't anticipate any issues, but it is very challenging, no doubt."
The Board of Elections is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate to oversee administration of state election laws of this State. It has five republican members and five democratic members from the state's three counties.
It's not met for the last ten months due to vacancies of three members who passed away during that time. At the meeting this week, it introduced three new members: Judge William L. Witham, Jr. from Kent County, Jill Itzkowitz from New Castle County, and Tracey Miller from Kent County.
The board also reviewed its budget for the 2027 fiscal year. Albence said that it got several of its requests to the General Assembly.
One of these is funding for a new campaign finance reporting system, which will be implemented in 2027.
The system is more than 15 years old. And during finance committee hearings in February, Department leadership said the system, which tracks candidate, PAC, and donor financial records, was in desperate need of an upgrade.
Albence said it will be, "a fundamental change" which will improve efficiency for election department staff and access for the public.
Lawmakers also approved funding for an updated voter registration and election management system, which will also arrive next year.
Albence added his department asked for funding to expand early voting locations, which was not approved. But it plans to request funding for this again.
The board approved voter roll reports at its meeting. The statewide total of registered voters is more than 800 thousand. It’s gained approximately six thousand new registered voters since January.
One board member questioned the number, since Delaware’s population is just over one million. Albence said Delaware and the federal government have rules on when Delaware can remove an inactive voter from its rolls. But the board should expect to see a large number of removals in 2027.
"Basically the year following the General election, you will see a large number of removals that will come through," Albence said.
Before the next General election, people who don’t respond to the Department of Election’s efforts to confirm or update their address will be removed.
"Those are the individuals for whom that time frame (will ) expire," he said.
During the meeting this week, the board also approved the removal of approximately 14-hundred voters from its rolls based on lack of updated information, reported death, or other record changes that disqualify someone from voting.
The board is set to meet again September 22nd.
