Delaware Superior Court finds early voting and permanent absentee voting unconstitutional

The Delaware Superior Court on Friday found early voting and permanent absentee voting statutes in the state to be unconstitutional.

Judge Mark Conner struck down a request by the state election commissioner, Anthony J. Albence, alongside the Delaware Department of Elections, to dismiss a complaint stating that Delaware's early voting and permanent absentee voting statutes were violating the First State's constitution.

The plaintiffs in the case were Michael Mennella and Republican Sen. Gerald Hocker.

In his opinion, Conner stated: "The enactments of the General Assembly challenged today are inconsistent with our Constitution and therefore cannot stand."

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In his ruling, the judge noted the following about early voting:

• The Delaware Constitution designates only one day for general elections, but the state's early voting statute allows for voting at least 10 days before that one day. He stated that the "Constitution will prevail" when conflicts with statutes exist.

• The judge found that the state's early voting statute failed to meet the constitution's mandate to "secure secrecy and the independence of the voter, preserve the freedom and purity of elections and prevent fraud, corruption and intimidation" and that early voting went beyond the Legislature's limited authority granted by the constitution.

On the issue of permanent absentee voting, Conner wrote that the state constitution "allows a voter to participate in absentee voting at only the election at which they are unable to appear."

He agreed with the plaintiffs that Delaware's statute goes too far by "granting indefinite absentee voting to those who are unable to vote in a single election." An ill voter could check a box on a form and automatically receive absentee ballots for future general elections regardless if they are still ill, the judge wrote.

U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., called the decision an "urgent reminder that we need federal voting rights protections," according to a statement released.

“Yesterday’s Delaware Superior Court decision is another reminder of where we are at this moment — no matter where you live in our country, Republican extremists will stop at nothing to attack our access to the ballot box," Rochester said.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Permanent absentee and early voting unconstitutional: DE Superior Court