Senate Bill 3 moves to house

Dover, De- On Thursday the Deleware Senate passed the first stage of a Constitutional amendment that aims to remove limitations on the circumstances in which voters may cast absentee ballots.

Senate Bill 3 would remove the circumstances which would permit absentee voting in the state.

SB 3 would also make clear that these ballots must be accompanied by an pledge that the voter is free from improper influence, as required under the Delaware Constitution.

In a release from Legislative Hall, Sponsor of the Bill Senator Darius Brown said: “Voting rights have long been central to the civil rights movement in this nation because it is only through equal access to the ballot that voters can secure their basic human rights and protect their freedoms. Yet today, one of the three voting methods allowed here in Delaware is available only to a few, and only under a handful of narrow circumstances. Senate Bill 3 represents the first step toward lifting those restrictions and finally giving all Delaware voters the same right to a no-excuse absentee ballot that voters in 35 red and blue states across the country already enjoy.”

Senate Bill 3 now heads to the House for consideration.