Finally, Delaware joins the 21st Century with early voting. This bill establishes in-person early voting for the State of Delaware. Registered voters will be allowed to vote in-person for at least 10 days prior to an election, up to and including the Saturday and Sunday immediately prior to the election at locations determined by the Commissioner of Elections. The Commissioner is also charged with determining whether such voting should occur by voting machine or paper ballot. All other procedures relating to conducting voting are the same as for election day voting. For statewide elections the statute directs that there must be at least one in-person polling place in each county, and an additional location in the city of Wilmington. This Act takes effect on January 1, 2020.
And look at the lack of red in the sponsors names below. Republicans really disapprove of helping people vote.
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 15 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EARLY VOTING.
UPDATED: 6/8/2017
SPONSORS: Bentz, Henry, Hansen, Marshall, Townsend, Heffernan, Q. Johnson, Keeley, Kowalko, Lynn, Mitchell, B. Short, K. Williams
YES VOTES:
NO VOTES:
HISTORY: Released from committee.
STATUS: On Ready List.
Anyone know why Paul Baumbach isn’t supporting this?
It is a marketing/communications mistake to call it early voting. This does not convey a benefit and strategic frame…..it should be called something like/akin to “convenience voting”. Those of you expecting a huge increase in turnout as a result likely will be disappointed. When introduced in other states 10-15 years ago, it grew very slowly and the net result in turnout improvement was in most cases marginal. Only in the last couple of cycles has it shown significant improvement. This is not a a reason not to do it, just a heads up to temper expectations.
A universal mail ballot, if adopted by our current Voting Systems Commission over other machine options, would greatly reduce the need for polling places, staffing, machines, etc., excepting optical scanners at the central counting location for the mail ballots. Huge advantage too given our small turnout, tight races, for a real recount. Currently Delaware does reprints,
not recounts with the antique Touch Screen votes. Mail ballots are showing good results and economies in Oregon, Washington and Colorado. This could be a great solution for our small state.
I doubt that anyone thinks that this will massively increase turnout. What it does do, is let people vote who may know late that they can’t get to the polls on the set date. If you have work that has travel demands, or you have shift work where it can be difficult to get to the polls during the day,or you have children who are not always capable of being sick when it is convenient to parents, or if you are a caregiver whose schedule needs to be flexible — the opportunity to go in person some days ahead of Election Day can be a godsend. I’ve taken advantage of it. As have plenty of campaign staffs — both D and R.
This should be a paper ballot process just like all of our elections. It does increase turnout. It is cheaper. Just look at California, Oregon, and Colorado … to name a few states.