Voters must elect lawmakers who support democracy reforms
In the last legislative session, lawmakers tried to make it easier for Delawareans to vote by passing legislation that permitted vote-by-mail and same-day voter registration. Even though making it easier to vote should be a no-brainer regardless of political affiliation, a lawsuit immediately was filed by Delaware’s Republican Party seeking to render these statutes unconstitutional. The Delaware Supreme Court complied.
Unlike many other states, Delaware requires the approval of two-thirds of the Legislature in consecutive legislative terms to amend the constitution. Nevertheless, a constitutional amendment to expand absentee voting passed the Legislature prior to the 2020 election with broad bipartisan support. When the same amendment came up for a vote in 2021, attacks on democracy nationally had an impact in Delaware: support declined along party lines, with not one Republican voting in favor of the amendment. The previous bipartisan effort to make it easier to vote failed.
What happens now? There likely will be confusion among voters who have applied for vote-by-mail ballots and voters who seek to update their registration or register for the first time. The impact of the failure of same-day registration will be felt more keenly among people who move frequently, low-income voters and students. When we consider Delaware laws that disenfranchise persons on probation and parole and permanently disenfranchise people convicted of certain crimes, the result is a large group of citizens are unable to vote. And this large group disproportionately includes people of color.
Large-scale democracy reform is needed. The Delaware Constitution must be amended to eliminate restrictions that make it harder for people to vote, restrictions that hurt everyone, regardless of political party. The Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice calls on every candidate running for the Legislature this November to declare whether they will support constitutional amendments that make it easier for everyone to vote. And perhaps democracy reform should include a citizen initiative process. Voters deserve to be able to make an informed decision. And those voters who actually can get to the polls should elect representatives who will protect and facilitate that right.
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