The Delaware statute expanded Election Day beyond the constitutionally designated day, and the permanent absentee voter law does not conform to constitutional requirements, ruled Superior Court Judge Mark H. Conner.
Ten days of early voting was instituted by the General Assembly in 2019.
The Delaware Constitution specifies “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November” as the day on which the General Election shall be held.
Former judge and Delaware Attorney General Jane Brady, a Republican, and the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), a nonpartisan and nonprofit public interest law firm dedicated to election integrity, are hoping to restore the “day” in Election Day.
The state constitution “mandates one Election Day, not 10 separate days,” PILF said in a statement about the case.
Constitutional Arguments
PILF attorneys said in the statement that the Delaware Constitution lists specific qualifications for voting absentee. Permissible reasons to receive an absentee ballot include going on vacation, work obligations, disability, illness, and serving in the military, among others.“Delaware’s law granting permanent absentee voting privileges conflicts directly with the constitution that requires consideration of eligibility to vote absentee at each election,” the organization stated.
When the Delaware Superior Court struck down both laws as unconstitutional, the state appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court.
The Delaware Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the state’s appeal on June 5.
“States cannot pass election laws that conflict with their state constitutions,” said PILF President J. Christian Adams. “This lawsuit will restore the rule of law in Delaware’s elections.”
After the oral arguments, Lauren Bowman Bis, PILF’s director of communications, told The Epoch Times the organization expects a decision before the 2024 general election.
In the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, the Democrat-controlled Delaware General Assembly passed laws that allowed universal no-excuse mail-in voting and same-day voter registration.
After a legal challenge by PILF, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that both election practices were prohibited by the Delaware Constitution.
The legal actions challenging the constitutionality of same-day registration, universal vote-by-mail, permanent absentee voter status, and early voting were first initiated by Michael Mennella, an inspector of elections with the Delaware Department of Elections.
Delaware state Senate Minority Leader Gerald W. Hocker, a Republican, joined the Mennella lawsuit over early voting and permanent absentee status as a co-plaintiff.
The Delaware Election Commissioner’s office, the appellant in the case, and the Delaware Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment.
The Public Interest Legal Foundation has brought lawsuits and won victories in Delaware, Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, as well as other states.
