At a time when election integrity is under closer scrutiny, Delaware’s Democrat majorities in the House of Representatives and Senate in June rushed through two changes in our laws.
Senate Bill 320 establishes voting by mail upon request.
This bill accomplished, through a simple majority vote, what House Bill 75 tried to accomplish through an amendment to the Constitution, which requires a two-thirds majority in two consecutive General Assemblies.
House Bill 25 provides for Election Day registration.
I introduced the following amendment to HB 25: “This amendment requires a person who registers to vote the day of the election to have their vote kept in a provisional ballot envelope, which shall be counted … after the Department verifies the person in question is a qualified voter and has not previously voted.”
My amendment was deemed to be “unfriendly” and failed along party lines.
Under HB 25, as it was passed by the Democrat majority, the votes will be counted along with all the other votes, with no way to distinguish how they will influence the outcome.
Elections are sometimes won by a margin of just a few votes, in some cases by just a single vote.
Is it possible that, under same-day voter registration, votes may be cast at the wrong polling place or by unqualified voters?
Of course this possibility exists. So what happens if the Department of Elections finds out someone registering to vote on Election Day was not qualified?
Apparently, nothing. Is there a way to know where their votes were cast to separate them out?
Were these changes in the law made to make it easier to vote or easier to harvest votes, not reflecting the will of the individual voter but the will of special-interest groups?
These new laws may trouble you but don’t let them deter you from voting. Exercising your right to vote is the best way to counter these extreme, absurd measures.
Sen. Bryant Richardson, R-Seaford
