In a bombshell ruling, Delaware’s highest judicial body has just ruled that the state’s state’s mail-in voting and same-day voter registration rules are unconstitutional.
According to Delaware Live, the Delaware state Supreme Court unanimously decided late last week that the vote-by-mail law “impermissibly expands the categories of absentee voters identified in Article V, Section 4A of the Delaware Constitution.”
Three-page ruling issued last Friday
Meanwhile, the Court also found that the provision allowing for same-day voter registration runs afoul of Article V, Section 4.
Put out last Friday, the decision was only a 3-page abbreviated order which the justices said will be supplemented by a more in-depth explanation at a later date.
“The Court enters this abbreviated order in recognition of the impending election scheduled for November 8, 2022, and the Department of Election’s desire to mail ballots to voters by or around October 10, 2022,” the ruling declared.
“A more formal opinion, fully explaining the Court’s views and the reasons supporting our unanimous decision, will issue in due course,” the court said, adding. “The mandate shall issue immediately.”
One of the plaintiffs who challenged Delaware’s voting rules was Ayonne “Nick” Miles, and Miles told Delaware Live that he was bothered by how they were passed.
“This has always been about the process and the fact that the General Assembly brazenly disregarded the amendment process and thought they were untouchable and couldn’t be challenged,” Miles said. He added, “The highest court in Delaware just put them in their place.”
Democratic lawmaker disappointed by decision
One person who was impressed by Friday’s ruling was Democratic state Sen. Kyle Evans, who sponsored the legislation allowing universal mail-in voting.
“I’m disappointed by the Supreme Court’s ruling but I respect it entirely,” the lawmaker was quoted as telling Delaware LIVE News.
“I’m just really thankful that we now have certainty in what we need to do in order to continue to expand voting rights,” Gay went on to insist.
“The Supreme Court has done its part and it’s now up to the legislature to do its part to [enact] the policies that we want to be enacted,” he concluded.