![]() ![]() The Constitution requires voters to provide justification before receiving an absentee ballot. But in 2021, not one Republican voted in favor of the proposal. Twelve Republicans voted in favor of the bill in 2019 during the 150th General Assembly. Constitutional amendments are also required to be passed separately during two consecutive legislative sessions. But the bill, which sought to amend the Delaware Constitution, failed to receive the required two-thirds majority needed in the House of Representatives. David Bentz, D-Christiana, would have allowed Delaware voters to request mail-in ballots without providing an explanation. In June 2021, Republicans in the General Assembly effectively stopped the passage of a different bill that would have made no-excuse absentee voting a permanent fixture in Delaware’s elections. Ballots and ballot applications will never be automatically mailed to voters under the bill. Shortly after the suit was announced, the Republican Party of Delaware sent a press statement with the headline, “We Support Challenges to the New Election Laws.” Mail-in voting Senate Bill 320 creates an opt-in vote-by-mail system wherein voters will have to request a ballot before one is sent. While Brady stressed that the lawsuit is not being brought by the Republican Party of Delaware, it was filed by the Republican chair on behalf of a Republican candidate and a Republican candidate’s husband. He is married to Delaware Senate candidate Brenda Mennella. Mennella is a plaintiff in a separate lawsuit, also filed by Brady, challenging the state’s early voting provision. “The second reason is,” Brady added, “by allowing people to register up until election day, he’s deprived of his opportunity to argue his positions on policy…because he doesn’t even know who’s registered to vote.” The lawsuit, filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, asks a judge to: Hold an expedited hearing Declare both laws unconstitutional Issue an injunction stopping the laws from taking effect Affirm that plaintiff Mennella is not required to enforce the new laws and, Award plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees, expenses, and costs, as well as any other relief the court feels appropriate. Higgin claims the new laws will result in fraud, which will “dilute the votes of his supporters and himself,” Brady said. The second is Michael Higgin, a Republican candidate for the Delaware House of Representatives. The first is Michael Mennella, a perennial poll worker who claims that the laws force him to violate the Constitution in his capacity as an election official. There are two plaintiffs listed in the suit. John Carney sign the bills on a Friday - a day notoriously known in politics for the best time to take action regarding matters on which you don’t want much press coverage - in a private signing ceremony?” The answer, Brady said, is that “they know that many Delawareans do not support mail-in voting,” and because “the members of the Delaware General Assembly who voted for this bill know that it is unconstitutional.” Carney’s office could not be immediately reached for comment. “Why are the Democrats hiding,” Brady asked. John Carney signed the bills during a private ceremony Friday - something Brady pointed to as evidence that Democrats know they’re acting outside of the law. “Mail-in voting clearly violates that requirement, as it allows remote voting without declaring or meeting any of those limited conditions.” Gov. ![]() “The Constitution provides you must vote in person on election day unless you qualify under very limited conditions to vote absentee,” Brady said during a press conference Friday. GOP chair Jane Brady, who was Delaware’s attorney general from 1995 until 2005, said the new laws violate the state Constitution. The chairwoman of the Republican Party of Delaware has filed suit against the state’s Department of Elections over two new laws legalizing mail-in voting and same-day voter registration. ![]()
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