A Delaware Superior Court has ruled the state’s law allowing ten days of early voting and permanent absentee voting is unconstitutional. Judge Mark H. Conner stated in a 25-page opinion: “The enactments of the General Assembly challenged today are inconsistent with our Constitution and therefore cannot stand.”
The court’s decision states that Article 5, Section 1 of the state constitution specifically proscribes that a “general election shall be held biennially on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November.” The Delaware Board of Elections argued the phrase “election shall be held” refers to the ‘last’ day in which a vote can be cast.
This decision could have broad implications, given ongoing legal challenges to state voting practices that critics say are in contravention of state laws and constitutions. Joe Biden, whose home state is Delaware, has leveled criticism at states like Georgia over their election regulations — calling their voter I.D. law “Jim Crow 2.0.” Georgia allows for three weeks of early voting.
The case was brought by Delaware state Senator Gerald Hocker and Michael Mennella — an inspector for the Delaware Department of Elections, represented by the Public Interest Legal Foundation. They noted the ruling is just the latest court decision stipulating states must follow their own constitutions. A New York state appeals court recently held noncitizen voting in municipal elections to be unconstitutional.
The ruling is Mennella and the Public Interest Legal Foundation’s second victory over Delaware’s voting laws in less than two years; previously, they succeeded in challenging the constitutionality of the state’s universal vote-by-mail and same-day voter registration laws.
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