Delaware Voting Rights Coalition

On Friday, February 23, 2024, Delaware’s Superior Court ruled that Delaware’s early voting and permanent absentee voting laws violate the state Constitution. As of Tuesday, February 27, 2024 the Attorney General committed to appeal this ruling and support legislative efforts to pass constitutional amendments expanding and enshrining voting rights.  

The statement below is attributable to the Delaware Voting Rights Coalition (DVRC):  

We firmly believe that access to the ballot is a critical part of democracy and are deeply concerned with the potential impact of this ongoing litigation. This new lawsuit and ruling is not the first instance of anti-voter litigation in Delaware, and if left unchallenged, would have the effect of suppressing significant numbers of Delaware voters.  

Attorney General Kathleen Jennings recently indicated that 56,000 Delawareans used early voting and about 21,000 used permanent absentee ballots in the last election. Delaware is now one of four states without early in-person voting, joining Alabama, Mississippi, and New Hampshire. 

Removing the longstanding permanent absentee option for voting has the potential to disenfranchise a large portion of the state’s population, from those who are disabled or in long-term care to those service members who reside abroad defending our nation’s freedoms. Requesting these ballots every year will be an extremely daunting task. 

We are in support and grateful for the state’s announcement to appeal this decision and will continue our public education efforts to ensure that voters understand all the options available to them as they head to the polls. 

While it is our position that our state’s constitution does not preclude the means of voting targeted in the lawsuit, it is clear that partisan interests will continue to find ways to challenge laws that expand access to the ballot. Delaware needs to lower the barriers to voting with options that can work with voters’ lives. Therefore, it is necessary for a constitutional amendment to expand voting rights and put an end to anti-voter attacks. 

We, the Delaware Voting Rights Coalition, support the ACLU of Delaware’s plan for a long-term constitutional amendment campaign as the best way to expand democracy and ensure ALL Delawareans the right to vote. 

On Friday, October 7, 2022, the Delaware Supreme Court issued a ruling that overturned the vote by mail and same-day registration laws that were passed during the 2022 legislative session.

This decision was a devastating blow to voting rights in Delaware. Without a constitutional amendment, Delaware will be forced to navigate barriers such as arbitrary registration deadlines and long lines at the polls. As a consequence of this ruling, Delaware’s registration deadline will remain one of the longest deadlines allowed by federal law, drastically reducing voter engagement in all of our elections.

Delawareans overwhelmingly want to be able to cast their ballots freely and fairly, and vote by mail and same day registration improved access securely for thousands of voters. Delaware’s General Assembly must work now to pass constitutional amendments in order to enact these changes permanently. The Delaware Voting Rights Coalition remains committed to these advoacting for a consitutional amendment that expands access to the ballot for all voters.

Voting is a right—not a privilege, and voting restrictions fall particularly hard on systems-involved individuals. Due to racial bias in the criminal justice system, barriers to voting while incarcerated, restrictions on voting while on probation, and felony disenfranchisement laws disproportionately affect Black and brown people, who often face harsher sentences than white people for the same offenses.

In Delaware, thousands of people are disenfranchised every election because they are incarcerated. Those who are held in pretrial detention or convicted of misdemeanors do not legally lose their voting rights, but still encounter insurmountable barriers when trying to cast their ballot. In 2020, not a single incarcerated individual successfully cast a ballot. During the 2022 Midterm Elections, only three eligible, incarcerated voters in Delaware successfully cast a ballot. 

Voting allows people to remain connected to their communities while incarcerated, and helps facilitate the re-entry process. Delaware lawmakers must understand the importance of maintaining and fostering this connection, and the role that access to the ballot plays in encouraging civic participation and engagement. The Delaware Voting Rights Coalition is committed to ensuring that elected officials chamption reforms that allow incarcerated individuals to request, receive, and return a ballot.

I Have a felony conviction. Can I vote?

Even though one in four adults in Delaware identifies as having a disability, voters with disabilities continue to face some of the greatest barriers to voting in our elections- from inaccessible parking to public education and candidate information that are unavailable in accessible media formats. 

Federal law, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, Voting Rights Act, and Help America Vote Act requires states to:

• Provide voters with disabilities the “full and equal opportunity to vote."
• Make polling places fully accessible to voters with disabilities.
• Have at least one voting system at each polling place that allows people with disabilities to vote privately and independently.
• Allow voters with disabilities to receive in-person help at the polls from a person of their choosing (except an agent of their employer or union).
• Provide the same opportunity for access and participation, including privacy and independence, that other voters receive.

The Delaware Department of Elections and the state can improve accessibility for voters with disabilities now by ensuring physical access during Early Voting and on Election Day, creating and supporting better transportation options, and developing a simple and effective process for the electronic delivery and return of absentee ballots for those who qualify.