Voting lawsuit successfully settled after violating DE constitution
DELAWARE – The general assembly passed a law allowing mail-in voting and same-day voter registration, however, some say this was unconstitutional and actually filed a lawsuit against it.
“We filed this lawsuit on behalf of the election inspector because these two new laws actually violated the Delaware constitution,” says Charlotte Davis, Litigation Counsel for the Public Interest Legal Foundation.
The two laws, Delaware passed were to change the registration deadlines so voters could vote early, up to and on election day, along with anyone for any reason who could vote by mail.
State Representative Bryan Shupe explains what happened before the law was passed. “They were trying to push through a bill that was just a simple majority in both houses without a consensus from the general assembly,” says Representative Bryan Shupe, Republican for District 36 of Delaware.
The Delaware constitution spells out more specifically why this violates the law. “There’s a section in the Delaware constitution that says you have to be registered at least 10 days prior to election day there’s also a section in the Delaware constitution that says a voter should be able to correct and appeal their registration before the election day,” says Davis.
But not only was the election timing wrong, Representative Shupe says the protocol to get the law passed was incorrect. “The Delaware constitution clearly states that to change election law in the state of Delaware that you have to have a two-thirds vote by both chambers over 2 consecutive sessions,” says Representative Shupe.
The case is closed. The Public Interest Legal Foundation calls this a much bigger win for their client but a win for voters. “Its a win for the rule of law we need our statutes on our laws to comport with our constitution whenever we have laws that we kind of pick and choose and we don’t abide by all of them, then it really degrades our whole constitutional system because people don’t know which laws they need to abide by and which ones they don’t,” says Davis.
Representative Shupe does believe the law will be brought up again. He believes voting rights and security bring both parties together and says that is where we need to work together and meet in the middle.
The representative says lawmakers would like to see the conversation continue, he encourages that you reach out to their local lawmakers to have their voices heard.
