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SS1FORSB3 • 2025

AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE V OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO VOTING.

AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE V OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO VOTING.

Elections
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Last action
2026-04-14
Official status
Passed By Senate. Votes: 14 YES 5 NO 2 ABSENT
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE V OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO VOTING.

AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE V OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO VOTING.

What This Bill Does

  • AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE V OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO VOTING.
  • This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No.
  • 3.
  • This Act differs from Senate Bill No.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-04-14 Delaware General Assembly

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 14 YES 5 NO 2 ABSENT

  2. 2026-03-26 Delaware General Assembly

    Amendment HA 1 to SS 1 - Passed In House by Voice Vote

  3. 2026-03-26 Delaware General Assembly

    Passed By House. Votes: 33 YES 7 NO 1 ABSENT

  4. 2026-03-25 Delaware General Assembly

    Amendment HA 1 to SS 1 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

  5. 2025-05-21 Delaware General Assembly

    Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 3 On Its Merits

  6. 2025-04-15 Delaware General Assembly

    Assigned to Administration Committee in House

  7. 2025-04-10 Delaware General Assembly

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 16 YES 5 NO

  8. 2025-04-09 Delaware General Assembly

    was introduced and adopted in lieu of SB 3

Official Summary Text

AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE V OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO VOTING.
This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 3. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 3. in that it incorporates technical corrections made to the Delaware Constitution by House Bill No. 10 (153rd General Assembly).

Like Senate Bill No. 3, this Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment to eliminate the limitations on when an individual may vote absentee and provide an absolute right to vote by absentee ballot without an excuse. This Act is in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Albence v. Higgins, 2022 Del. LEXIS 377 (Del. 2022).

Although Section 1 of this Act creates an absolute right to vote by absentee ballot without an excuse, a qualified voter who desires to cast an absentee ballot must request an absentee ballot from the Department of Elections for each election cycle, unless the qualified voter is granted permanent absentee status. This State’s current absentee voting law authorizes permanent absentee status for various reasons (see § 5503(k) of Title 15 o