On September 14, 2026, the ACLU of Delaware (ACLU-DE), the Community Legal Aid Society, Inc (CLASI), the League of Women Voters of Delaware, and The Arc of Delaware submitted an amicus brief with the Delaware Supreme Court, urging the court to uphold permanent absentee voting laws ahead of the 2026 Midterm Elections.
In early August 2026, State Senator Gerald Hocker filed a lawsuit against the Delaware Department of Elections, claiming that permanent absentee voting laws are not valid under the Delaware Constitution. The complaint was later amended, with State Senate candidate Steven Washington joining Senator Hocker’s lawsuit.
On September 4, 2026, the Delaware Court of Chancery upheld permanent absentee voting. The court ruled that the statute, which only grants permanent absentee voting status for those unable to vote in-person for constitutionally sound reasons such as disability or service deployment, does not in any way conflict with the state constitution.
Now the case has advanced to the Delaware Supreme Court, where oral arguments will be heard on Wednesday, September 16, 2026.
An amicus brief is a “friend of the court” legal document filed by someone not directly involved in a case to provide additional information, expertise, or perspective to assist the court in making its decision. The Amicus Brief filed by the organizations in this case questions the timing of the lawsuit, which was filed 13 weeks before the general election on November 3, 2026, and argues that there is insufficient time before the election to implement a change (such as requiring the affected voters to re-apply for absentee ballots with each election) without disenfranchising voters who currently rely on permanent absentee voting in Delaware. So even if the Supreme Court were to disagree with the Court of Chancery about the constitutionality of permanent absentee voting, the brief holds that there should be no change for this year's general election.
Read more in this press release from ACLU-DE: DE Civil Rights Organizations Submit Amicus Brief in Permanent Absentee Voting Lawsuit
The actual legal documents are available here: aclu-de.org/cases/hocker-et-al-v-albence-et-al
