LEWES, Del. - On Wednesday, the Chancery Court struck down a law that would have made it possible to vote by mail in Delaware.
The law, passed at the end of the last General Assembly, tried to extend mail-in voting beyond and apart from the State of Emergency declared by Governor John Carney during the COVID pandemic.
Vice Chancellor Nathan Cook agreed that the law violated the Delaware Constitution by letting voters to cast their ballots from a place other than their designated polling location without having an excuse provided under the Constitution’s absentee voting provision.
From now on, Delaware will use the pre-covid rules for absentee voting that have been in place for decades, according to officials.
“Today is a victory for the law," said M. Jane Brady of Brady Legal Group, who represented two of the plaintiffs in the case. "To change the provisions in our State Constitution requires that the same new law be passed by the General Assembly over two consecutive legislative sessions with a supermajority. When the Democrats could not get the votes to do that, they attempted to change the law by passing a statute in the General Assembly in one session with a simple majority.”
Brady also expressed appreciation to Noel Johnson and Charlotte Davis of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, co-counsel in the matter. “Their expertise and familiarity with other states’ experiences was invaluable. They are real professionals in the litigation of election integrity matters.”
“This is the first step to protect Delaware elections from laws that may undermine our confidence in election results and threaten to introduce greater opportunities for fraud into our elections,” said Brady.
Other plaintiffs in the case were represented by Julianne Murray, who is a candidate for Attorney General.
“I am delighted with the decision," said Murray. "The Vice Chancellor took great care in reviewing Delaware’s history as well as Delaware’s case law in coming to his conclusion. I obviously thought that the statute was unconstitutional but to have the Court agree is very validating.”
“During the floor debates in both houses, members of the General Assembly said that, despite testimony that the statute is unconstitutional, they were going to pass the law and let it be sorted out in the courts. Well it has now been sorted out” continued Murray.
According to Murray, the plaintiffs in Murray’s suit are all registered voters in Delaware: a Republican, a Democrat and an Unaffiliated. In addition, one is from each of the three counties in Delaware.
“This is significant because the suit was filed for all Delawareans and was not intended to be one party against the other party," stated Murray. "At the end of the day this affects everyone in Delaware regardless of their political persuasion. It is important to defend the Delaware Constitution.”
“This lawsuit is not an attack on vote by mail. If the General Assembly wants permanent, no excuse vote by mail, they should amend the constitution," stated Plaintiff Nick Miles. "People are going to try to make this a partisan issue and it is really nonpartisan. This is not about the virtues or flaws of vote by mail. This is about following the proper procedure.”