Absentee ballots were the game changer in the Aug. 5 special election for District 20 helping Democrat Alonna Berry secure a win.

Those ballots came in about 2.5 to 1 in favor of Berry, giving her a win over Republican Nikki Miller by 121 votes. Berry received 469 absentee ballots to Miller’s 193. 

But in other voting categories, Miller came out ahead. In unofficial results from the Department of Elections as of the Cape Gazette’s deadline, Miller edged Berry in early voting 3,077 to 2,940, and the two were nearly even with day-of-election votes, again with Miller narrowly beating Berry 1,262 to 1,244. The candidates were separated by one vote after tabulating Mariner Middle School polls.

The total votes cast in Berry’s unofficial 4,653 to 4,532 victory set a new record voter turnout for a special election in Delaware, said Department of Elections spokeswoman Cathleen Hartsky-Carter.

“According to department records, the highest voter turnout for a special election was in the 2017 Senate District 10 special election, with the voter turnout of 35.21%. The voter turnout percentage for the state Representative District 20 special election is 40.02%,” she said.

The margins are getting tighter for Miller, who lost by 245 votes in 2024 to former Rep. Stell Parker Selby, D-Milton. Both Miller and Berry have filed to run in 2026, along with Democrat Ruby Schaeffer.

Hartsky-Carter said an absentee voter is required to sign a ballot envelope, affirming the oath on the envelope, but Delaware law does not require signature verification.

The department also does not track addresses to which absentee ballots are mailed by address type.

She said Delaware Code requires that an absentee ballot application include the voter’s permanent address, in addition to the address to which the voter requests the absentee ballot be mailed.

Berry attributed her success to the people of District 20, whom she enjoyed meeting during her campaign for the District 20 seat. The seat was vacated at the end of June when former Rep. Stell Parker Selby, D-Milton, resigned because of health reasons after missing the entire session.

“I'm grateful and overwhelmed by the swell of support – folks on the ground, door knocking, phone banking, making sure that people know there’s an election, and they should participate,” she said.

Now elected, Berry said she plans to start meeting with other officials.

“I think it’s critical to meet with our county council folks, meet with our municipality leadership, and meet with folks in Dover – cabinet secretaries, the governor’s office, just to really understand the issues heading into the next legislative session,” she said.

Berry will be sworn in at 2 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 12, in the House of Representatives before the legislature convenes for a special session on recent property tax assessments.

When speaking to those gathered at Irish Eyes in Lewes after polls closed, Miller stressed that she will continue working to win enough support to represent the area. 

“This 25- to 30-day campaign, we have raised more money than we did in nine months on the last one,” said Miller. “We had more momentum. We had support from across the state, and that just goes to show that regular people like us are ready to do the work, ready to show up. We need more of us. Not just showing up to vote, but also advocating when we talk to people. We need to be able to maintain what we love about this place. We might not have won tonight, but we’ve gotten closer, and I promise you the 49.86% that came out and voted for us tonight are going to be angry tomorrow. We are doing this because we love the people that are here, we love our families, we love our community, and we want to ensure that this is the place we can remain.”