The following letter was sent to both the members of the 153rd General Assembly on behalf of the Delaware Voting Rights Coalition (DVRC).
February 3, 2025
Members of the 153rd General Assembly,
As the legislative session begins, the members of the Delaware Voting Rights Coalition would like to extend our congratulations on your election to the 153rd General Assembly. Our coalition may already be familiar to many of you, but with new faces in Dover, we would like to use this opportunity to provide you with more insight into our efforts and priorities for 2025.
The Delaware Voting Rights Coalition is the first statewide, non-partisan coalition of voting rights organizations and advocates in Delaware. We are committed to ensuring all eligible Delaware voters have the freedom to vote in a meaningful, transparent, safe, and secure manner. We do so by encouraging voters and policymakers to consider reforms that will improve access to voting, and educating and empowering communities — especially communities of color, people who speak English as a second language, people involved in the justice system, people with disabilities, and young people — to identify and remedy barriers to the ballot box.
We would like to highlight the following:
- Delaware is one of only fourteen states without no-excuse absentee voting;
- If Delaware were to lose early, in-person voting, it would be one of just four states to deny voters this option which was relied upon by over 200,000 Delawareans in 2024;
- Same-day voter registration could add over 22,000 voters to Delaware elections; and
- Delaware is the only state in our region that permanently disenfranchises returning citizens, and 3,627 Delawareans who were no longer incarcerated were barred from voting in 2024.
We support reforms that remove barriers to voting for all eligible voters, and are ready to work with legislators, local election officials, and the Department of Elections to make these reform recommendations a reality.
This year we are advocating for reforms and announced legislation including:
- Senate Bill 3, which ensures that all registered voters are able to cast an absentee ballot and protects permanent absentee voting status;
- Senate Bill 2, which protects early, in-person voting;
- Implementing same-day voter registration;
- Educating all eligible voters about the option to vote early or by mail;
- Expanding voting options for eligible incarcerated voters and restoring voting rights after felony incarceration; and
- Expanding and enhancing accessibility of our elections and of public education materials and events for voters with disabilities and voters who do not speak English.
The fight for voting rights in 2025 remains as critical as ever. The Delaware Voting Rights Coalition is committed to providing community-based support, advocacy, and education to achieve these goals.
We invite you to join our biweekly virtual coalition meetings held on Tuesday evenings and take advantage of our coalition resources and expertise to assist your legislative efforts.
Thank you for your time and commitment to advancing policies that protect and expand Delawareans’ access to participating in our democracy. We look forward to collaborating with you and your office staff.
The Delaware Voting Rights Coalition
To get in touch with our coalition, please contact Andrew Bernstein at [email protected].
