Increase Voter Participation in Delaware
During the 2020 elections, Delawareans could vote in a variety of ways. We could go to the polls, vote absentee, or vote by mail. This made voting easy and actually increased voter turnout in Delaware by 7%. All these options were made possible because of emergency procedures that were put in place due to COVID.
Now we have a chance to make these different voting options permanent. There is a bill before the Delaware legislature (HB75) that would remove the restrictive absentee language from the Delaware constitution and lay the groundwork for no-excuse absentee voting and vote-by-mail.
All states allow mail-in absentee ballots for certain voters. Currently, 68% of states have permanent no-excuse absentee voting or vote-by-mail programs. Delaware, along with 13 southern states, only allows absentee voting for a specific reason. It is certainly time for Delaware to implement no-excuse absentee voting.
As of this writing, we don’t know when the vote on HB 75 will take place, but in case it happens soon, please email your Representative now and ask him/her to vote YES on HB75. A message in your own words will be most effective, so we are breaking with custom and not drafting a suggested note for you to send. We have learned that legislators give greater credence to individualized messages than they do to notes that are the same from several of their constituents.
Thanks! ~~let’s get this change in place so that voting is within easy reach of all Delawareans.
