SDARJ supports expanding voting access

The Delaware Superior Court struck a blow to the voting rights of Delawareans Feb. 23, when it invalidated Delaware's early voting and permanent absentee voting laws. These laws previously allowed voters to cast ballots for at least 10 days prior to the day of the election, and allowed certain voters eligible to vote absentee under the Delaware Constitution to receive absentee ballots without having to reapply each election cycle. Practically speaking, the laws allowed Delawareans – especially the elderly, disabled people, those of lesser means, and those stationed overseas – greater access to the ballot, and the court’s voiding of these laws may lead to the disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of Delaware residents. 

For years, Delaware's voting laws were among the most restrictive in the country, but that began to change in 2019, when the General Assembly passed a law allowing residents to vote in person up to 10 days before Election Day. Then, in 2020, due to the pandemic, Delaware temporarily expanded voting access by allowing registered voters to vote by mail, expanding Delaware’s absentee system, which required voters to provide an excuse to vote by mail. In 2022, further legislation was passed permitting anyone to vote by mail without an excuse and to register to vote up to Election Day. 

These reforms to expand access to voting have been subject to lawsuits challenging them on the grounds that they violated the Delaware Constitution. Efforts to amend the Delaware Constitution in 2019 and 2021 to include these rights failed. 

Delaware’s regressive voting restrictions affect many people who are not able to take time off work or have other commitments that prevent them showing up on Election Day and waiting in line to cast a ballot. Parents with children at home, low-income workers, shift workers, those with disabilities, the elderly and overseas families often can’t be at the polls on the state's predetermined voting day. As Attorney General Kathleen Jennings noted in her statement regarding the court’s latest ruling, “This ruling means Delawareans’ access to the ballot is now among the worst in America. Twenty-five states have stronger permanent absentee protections than us. Forty-six states allow early voting ... we are at the bottom of the barrel along with all but three other states.” She went on to say that the lawsuit “has now successfully disenfranchised our state’s most vulnerable and most noble voters – veterans, disabled people, caregivers and working people ... 21,000 of them in the case of permanent absentee, and 56,000 in the case of early voting.” 

The Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice opposes these lawsuits challenging efforts to pass laws expanding access to the ballot box on constitutional grounds, while refusing to adopt constitutional amendments that would remove the alleged constitutional infirmities. It is clear the constitution is not the problem; rather, expanding access to voting is.

Making voting easier will allow for more people to exercise their constitutional right to vote and prevent the disenfranchisement of thousands of Delawareans. Let’s make sure our legislators know that we want a Delaware in which the right to vote is made accessible and a reality for all.