Judge denies GOP mail-in voting challenge

The Republican State Committee says it accepts a Sept. 28 court decision denying the GOP challenge to mail-in voting, and will focus on getting out the vote for the upcoming general election.

“We will respect the decision of the court and fashion our get-out-the-vote effort around vote-by-mail in addition to absentee and in-person voting,” the state GOP said in a statement following the Chancery Court decision.

The Republican State Committee and two citizens challenged Delaware's vote-by-mail legislation which was passed by the state Legislature in June, and signed into law July 1 by Gov. John Carney. The temporary law expanded existing absentee ballot voting to allow residents to vote by mail due to public health concerns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. It will expire in January 2021.

The GOP lawsuit contended that the vote-by-mail legislation violates Delaware's Constitution, and therefore mail-in voting should not be allowed for the 2020 elections.

In his decision, Vice Chancellor Samuel Glasscock III said the plaintiffs may disagree with the law, and even if he disagreed with it, they did not make a clear case that it was erroneous for the Legislature and governor to allow mail-in voting.

“The legislature, in the face of an epidemic of airborne disease and in light of the health emergency declared by the governor, has made a determination that vote-by-mail is necessary for the continued operation of governmental functions, and that it would be impracticable to address this problem other than by otherwise-extraconstitutional means,” Glasscock's opinion read.

Voter turnout

According to the Department of Elections website, 177,547 ballots were cast during the primary elections – about 32 percent of the state’s roughly 550,000 registered voters.

Sussex County's District 20 recorded the highest percentage of voters in the state with 44 percent voting – more than 8,300 voters. Rehoboth's District 14 followed a close second with about 7,800 votes for 43 percent.