Legislation to include nonpartisan voters to DE primaries

Salisbury, Md. – Delaware has closed primaries, meaning only those who are affiliated with the political party can vote in that party’s primary. However, House Bill 188 seeks to change that by allowing those not registered with a party to vote in the state’s primary elections.

“Delaware has such a significant number of independents and unaffiliated voters that we have to recognize that their voice deserves to be heard,” State Sen. Eric Buckson (R-District 16),  a co-sponsor of the legislation, said.

Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall (D-District 14) said polarizing politics have enabled a lot of voters to feel disenfranchised with either party, leading to more people rejecting parties and registering as unaffiliated. According to state election data, there are about 800,000 registered voters in Delaware and about 200,000 of those are not affiliated with any party.

“And so they, you know, want to be able to participate in the primary process and that makes sense,” she said. “On the other hand, the primary is the way that a party selects its nominee.”

Senator Buckson, one of the co-sponsors of the bill, says though he understands the argument in opposition to the legislation, he believes it’s more about bringing nonparty voters into the electoral process, since they will only be able to vote in one of the party’s primaries per election cycle.

“So the primary opposition and the arguments that I’ve heard are ‘you can’t vote in a primary. Pick a side,'” he said. “That’s not an unfair argument. I just think that the opportunity to bring more Delawareans into the fold when it comes to voting in a primary outweighs that.”

However, though HB 188 has received bipartisan support, it’s also received bipartisan opposition.

“It’s going to be interesting because I don’t think it’s necessarily going to break down in party lines,” Snyder-Hall said. “I’ve spoken to constituents and they’re on both sides. Some feel like nonparty affiliates should be able to vote in the primary and others feel like it’s not fair to have nonparty members choosing the party’s nominee.”

HB 188 has been voted out of committee and is ready to be heard on the House floor.