Manus: Explanation needed for ‘no party’ voter status
Andrew T. Manus is a resident of Clayton.
As a conscientious voter who has been consistently shut out of voting in Delaware’s primaries because my political party affiliation is “no party,” let me share with you my recent interaction with the Department of Elections. In August, I received a state primary election special notice from the department. It stated, “Voters must choose a political party to vote in the primary election. Only voters registered as ‘No Party-(automatic voter registration)’ may change their party on primary Election Day.” My political party affiliation on the notice sent to me by the Department of Elections is listed as “no party.” So, I made my way to the Kent County location for early voting and was denied the opportunity to vote.
I asked the election officials at the polling place how this could be. The response was that, to vote in this primary, I had to have changed my party affiliation before the last Friday in May. To which, I replied, “I am registered as ‘no party,’ as is accurately shown on the official election mail.” At that point, poll workers placed a call to the Department of Elections, where the person on the phone reiterated the same response. At that juncture, I thanked the poll workers and asked that they record my request to vote, and they did. Before I left, I was given a card that had the Department of Elections’ Kent County contact information and was told I could use it if I had any additional questions.
The next day, I did just that and requested a written explanation as to why I was denied the opportunity to vote in the primary. The response I received was: “Delaware has closed party Primaries; this means you must be registered as the party you are voting for. Because you are registered as No Party, … you were not permitted to vote. If you wish to vote in Primary Elections in the future you would have to change your party, you can do that online at ivote.de.gov, stop by any Elections office or we can mail you a form to change your party.”
That response did not seem complete, since my Delaware polling place card has my political party affiliation listed as “no party.” Further “no party-AVR” citizens are afforded the opportunity to change their party on primary election day. Why can’t I, as a “no party” registered voter be afforded the same opportunity? Why are “no party-AVR” voters shown special treatment? I immediately followed up with the Department of Elections and asked: “How is it that an AVR-designated ‘no party’ registered voter is different from a ‘no party’ registered voter? It’s the same class of registered voter — but one allowed to vote and one denied the opportunity to vote. Please help me understand this distinction.”
After waiting three weeks and hearing no response from the Department of Elections in Kent County, I reached out to Anthony J. Albence, state election commissioner via email. His administrative assistant responded:
“That is a great question you have asked — and other Delaware voters have had the same question. The answer has to do with the new Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) Law that went into effect in June 2023. (It was passed by the General Assembly — so it’s a State law and not Elections Department policy.) ‘Regular’ No Party voters had to abide by the legally mandated May 24, 2024 party change deadline for the State Primary in September, and were not eligible to change their party until the State Primary had passed. ‘Regular’ No Party voters are voters who have No Party as their party affiliation prior to 2023 when the AVR law went into effect.
“No Party-AVR are voters who were automatically registered at the (Division of Motor Vehicles) after the new Automatic Voter Registration Law went into effect in 2023. (Previous No Party voters had to choose to register and choose to be No Party. The new voters were registered automatically and didn’t have a choice, since the law requires them to be registered.) So, No Party-AVR voters are permitted to declare a party up through Primary Election Day — more specifically, AVR voters may choose a political party through the day of the first primary election following their automatic voter registration at DMV. Since Delaware didn’t have a Presidential Primary this year in April, the State Primary in September was the first primary for many AVR voters.”
Notwithstanding the answer given, I remain perplexed. Making a distinction between “regular no party” registered voters and “no party-AVR” voters appears to be arbitrary. It only serves to disenfranchise citizens who took the responsibility to register to vote. Perhaps there is no such distinction, and it is illegal to give special treatment to “no party-AVR” government-registered voters and not afford the same opportunity to us conscientious voters who registered ourselves as “no party.” Obviously, the Department of Elections has the mechanism in place to change a “no party-AVR” voter’s affiliation on primary election day. So, my question remains and is now directed to the members of the Delaware General Assembly responsible for passing this law: As a “no party” registered voter, why was I not afforded the same courtesy?
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
