Delaware · Senate Bill 3 · 153rd General Assembly

Const. Amend/First Leg/Voting/No-Excuse Absentee

SB 3 Sponsored by Darius J. Brown Withdrawn

  1. Introduced Jan 3, 2025
  2. In committee Jan 3, 2025
  3. Withdrawn  
  4. Passed the House  
  5. To the governor  
  6. Became law  

What it does

The legislature's own summary of the bill, or its official long title.

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…

Read the full title (295 words)

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 of the Delaware Code) and this Act adopts most of those reasons. For each election in which a qualified voter votes by absentee ballot under a permanent absentee status, the qualified voter must take an oath or affirmation that the qualified voter remains eligible for permanent absentee status. Section 2 of this Act requires all absentee ballots to include an oath or affirmation that the qualified voter’s vote is free from improper influence. This oath or affirmation is in lieu of the oath or affirmation otherwise required under Section 3 of Article V of the Delaware Constitution. Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution

Every action

10 steps, oldest first, as the legislature records them.

  1. CommitteeIntroduced and Assigned to Elections & Government Affairs Committee in Senate · Senate Elections & Government Affairs
  2. CommitteeReported Out of Committee (Elections & Government Affairs) in Senate with 3 Favorable, 1 On Its Merits · Senate Elections & Government Affairs
  3. SenateSubstituted in Senate by SS 1 for SB 3
  4. SenateSS 1 for SB 3 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 16 YES 5 NO
  5. HouseSS 1 for SB 3 - Assigned to Administration Committee in House
  6. HouseSS 1 for SB 3 - Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 3 On Its Merits
  7. SenateSubstituted in Senate by SS 1 for SB 3
  8. HouseSS 1 for SB 3 - - Passed In House by Voice Vote
  9. HouseSS 1 for SB 3 - Passed By House. Votes: 33 YES 7 NO 1 ABSENT
  10. SenateSS 1 for SB 3 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 14 YES 5 NO 2 ABSENT

Roll calls

No recorded votes on this bill yet.

Sponsors

The member who introduced it, joined by 11 cosponsors: 11 Democrats.

All 11 cosponsors

From Delaware's official records (legis.delaware.gov), checked Nov 1, 2026. Text links go to the official versions; LegiList does not copy bill text.