Delaware lawmakers introduce amendment to restore voting rights for disenfranchised Delawareans

DELAWARE –Sen. Kyle Evans Gay and Rep. Kerri Evelyn Harris introduced an amendment to the state Constitution on Thursday that would restore voting rights to all Delawareans who have completed a prison sentence on felony charges. The amendment also would remove outdated limitations on voting contained in the state’s founding document that has been ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Senate Bill 180 would continue the restorative justice work undertaken by the General Assembly in recent decades by adding Delaware to a list of 20 states both blue and red that automatically restore every person’s voting rights upon their release from prison.

“You see the detrimental effect of these laws crosses communities, counties, race background, and gender, so we have to realize this is the type of bill that could affect anyone and I have had amazing conversations with members of both parties on how we can move forward and live and act our values,” Senator Evans Gay said adding “people who commit a crime deserve to be judged and sentenced accordingly. But how can we claim to believe in redemption and second chances while we permanently strip people of our republic’s most basic right? All returning citizens, no matter their crimes, should be able to participate in our democracy, and this bill will finally give them that chance.”

The bill would need to get a majority vote during two legislative sessions in order to be approved and added to the Delaware Constitution.

The measure would also remove Jim Crow Era language including literacy requirements, a 21-year-old age requirement for voting, and unconstitutional residency requirements.

The bill is currently in the Senator Judiciary Committee.