Delaware attorney general to appeal recent ruling striking down early voting

Delaware's attorney general will appeal a recent court ruling that found the state's systems for early voting and permanent absentee voter registration were unconstitutional.

Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced her office's intent to appeal the ruling to the Delaware Supreme Court and discussed how the rulings might affect upcoming elections at a press conference in Wilmington on Tuesday.

The Friday ruling by Sussex County Superior Court Judge Mark Connor struck down a 2019 law that allowed the state to open in-person polling places days ahead of Election Day. Friday's ruling also struck down a 2010 law that allowed the disabled or residents stationed outside of Delaware to be permanently registered as absentee voters.

The ruling follows a 2022 decision by the state's Supreme Court that struck down lawmakers' recent efforts to allow anyone registered to vote to cast a ballot by mail and to allow people to register to vote up until Election Day.

READ MORE: Delaware lawmakers consider options after court tosses out early voting, mail-in ballots

Coupled together, the rulings effectively undercut most of lawmakers' major achievements to modernize Delaware's voting regime in recent years. In the last election, 56,000 Delawareans used early voting, according to Department of Elections data.

Roughly 21,000 voters used permanent absentee ballots. Those people include veterans, the disabled and caregivers, Jennings said. She noted that 46 other states allow early voting and 25 others have "stronger permanent absentee protections than we do."

"That is shameful," she said.

Voting reform efforts head back to Supreme Court

Like the 2022 ruling, Friday's ruling found that recent voting law changes by lawmakers ran afoul of provisions in the Delaware Constitution that prescribe how and when elections are to take place.

Friday's ruling was issued by a Superior Court judge so attorneys under Jennings will appeal the ruling to the Delaware Supreme Court.

Jennings said her office will seek a court order pausing the Superior Court decision and will request a decision on the appeal in time for voters to have clarity about the administration of September's state primary elections.

Friday's ruling pertains only to the state's general elections. Whether or not the appeal is successful, Jennings said her office will be in discussions with State Election Commissioner Anthony Albence regarding the "logistics" of September's primary.

April's presidential primary not affected

Jennings noted that the April 2 presidential primary will not be affected by the recent ruling.

She said absentee ballots will go out soon to those registered to vote absentee permanently and that the state will host early voting locations ahead of the primary.

Early voting is scheduled to begin March 20 for that primary.

Here's a list of relevant dates ahead of that election.

AG urges lawmakers to make constitutional changes

While Jennings noted her intent to appeal the decision, she called on lawmakers to amend Delaware's constitution to cure the issues the court used to strike down the expansion of the state's voting methods.

There is currently one constitutional amendment pending General Assembly consideration that would address the expansion of voting by mail struck down in the 2022 court decision.

Constitutional amendments must be approved in two successive General Assemblies and require a two-thirds majority for passage, meaning any effort to approve the first leg of a constitutional amendment this year will require some Republican support in the state's House of Representatives.

On Monday, Republican lawmakers also said they intend to introduce a constitutional amendment to address early voting. The lawsuits that saw the courts strike down the voting provisions were filed and backed by Republican interests in the state.

Republican lawmakers have said their dispute with Delaware's recent expansion of voting availability derives from how the law changes conflict with the text of the state's constitution and not the concept itself.

Jennings criticized the "extremists" that filed the lawsuits leading to the courts' decisions, linking local Republican lawmakers to a wave of right-wing pushback against voting expansion fueled by former President Donald Trump's unfounded efforts to delegitimize the country's election regimes following his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden.

Republican lawmakers largely supported a proposed constitutional amendment expanding voting availability in 2019, but none voted for the second leg of the constitutional amendment in 2021.

Contact Xerxes Wilson at (302) 324-2787 or xwilson@delawareonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware attorney general to appeal ruling striking down early voting