DE HB 180
passed bothAN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE V OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO VOTING.
Delaware · 2025-2026 Regular Session (153rd General Assembly) · lower
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Quick answers
Did DE HB 180 pass?
Not yet law. DE HB 180 has passed both chambers but has not been enacted. Latest recorded action (2026-07-01): Passed By Senate. Votes: 16 YES 5 NO
What is DE HB 180 about?
This Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution that does all of the following: (1) Under Section 1 of this Act, limits the loss of the right to vote of an individual who is convicted of a felony to the period during which the individual is imprisoned due to the felony, or until the individual is pardoned, whichever comes first. (2) Brings Section 1 of this Act into conformity with the United States Constitution and federal law. Section 1 of this Act specifically does all of the following: (1) Removes the ability of the General Assembly to impose the forfeiture of the right of suffrage as a punishment for a crime. (2) Removes the list of felonies resulting in permanent removal of the right to vote. (3) Prohibits making the re-enfranchisement of an individual who is convicted of a felony contingent on the payment of a monetary payment of any kind. (4) Defines terms related to imprisonment and community supervision. (5) Updates the age at which a resident of this State is granted a right to vote to be 18 years or older, to conform the Delaware Constitution to the 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution. (6) Removes the durational residency requirements necessary to qualify to vote in this State. Durational residency requirements have been found unconstitutional because these requirements infringe on both the constitutional right to vote and the constitutional right to travel. See Dunn v. Blumstein, 92 S. Ct. 995 (1972) (finding 1-year residency requirement in a state and 3-month residency requirement in a county unconstitutional) and Marston v. Lewis, 93 S. Ct. 1211 (1973). A voter will still be required to be a resident at the time the voter registers. (7) Removes the literacy test requirement to qualify to vote in this State. Literacy tests have been used to disqualify Blacks and individuals who are immigrants or poor. Because of the discriminatory use of, and often subjective nature of, literacy tests, literacy tests are prohibited under federal law, see 52 U.S.C. § 10501, and likely unconstitutional under the 14th or 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, see Oregon v. Mitchell, 91 S. Ct. 260 (1970). Section 2 of this Act removes the suspension of the right to vote as a punishment for violation of certain election offenses. 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.
Who sponsors DE HB 180?
Laura V. Sturgeon, Bryan Townsend, David P. Sokola and 19 others are the primary sponsors of DE HB 180.
Description
This Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution that does all of the following: (1) Under Section 1 of this Act, limits the loss of the right to vote of an individual who is convicted of a felony to the period during which the individual is imprisoned due to the felony, or until the individual is pardoned, whichever comes first. (2) Brings Section 1 of this Act into conformity with the United States Constitution and federal law. Section 1 of this Act specifically does all of the following: (1) Removes the ability of the General Assembly to impose the forfeiture of the right of suffrage as a punishment for a crime. (2) Removes the list of felonies resulting in permanent removal of the right to vote. (3) Prohibits making the re-enfranchisement of an individual who is convicted of a felony contingent on the payment of a monetary payment of any kind. (4) Defines terms related to imprisonment and community supervision. (5) Updates the age at which a resident of this State is granted a right to vote to be 18 years or older, to conform the Delaware Constitution to the 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution. (6) Removes the durational residency requirements necessary to qualify to vote in this State. Durational residency requirements have been found unconstitutional because these requirements infringe on both the constitutional right to vote and the constitutional right to travel. See Dunn v. Blumstein, 92 S. Ct. 995 (1972) (finding 1-year residency requirement in a state and 3-month residency requirement in a county unconstitutional) and Marston v. Lewis, 93 S. Ct. 1211 (1973). A voter will still be required to be a resident at the time the voter registers. (7) Removes the literacy test requirement to qualify to vote in this State. Literacy tests have been used to disqualify Blacks and individuals who are immigrants or poor. Because of the discriminatory use of, and often subjective nature of, literacy tests, literacy tests are prohibited under federal law, see 52 U.S.C. § 10501, and likely unconstitutional under the 14th or 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, see Oregon v. Mitchell, 91 S. Ct. 260 (1970). Section 2 of this Act removes the suspension of the right to vote as a punishment for violation of certain election offenses. 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.
- Introduced
- 2025-05-08
- Latest action
- 2026-07-01 — Passed By Senate. Votes: 16 YES 5 NO
- Bill type
- bill
- Last updated
- —
Sponsors
- Laura V. Sturgeonprimary
- Bryan Townsendprimary
- David P. Sokolaprimary
- Madinah Wilson-Antonprimary
- Edward S. Osienskiprimary
- Melanie Ross Levinprimary
- Cyndie Romerprimary
- Josue O Ortegaprimary
- Marie Pinkneyprimary
- Eric Morrisonprimary
- Trey Paradeeprimary
- Sean M. Lynnprimary
- Spiros Mantzavinosprimary
- Ray Seigfriedprimary
- Nicole Pooreprimary
- Mara Gormanprimary
- Sarah McBrideprimary
- William Bushprimary
- Bryant L. Richardsonprimary
- Darius J. Brownprimary
- Claire Snyder-Hallprimary
- Kerri Evelyn Harrisprimary
Committees
Not provided by source.
Action timeline
Newest first
2026-07-01
Passed By Senate. Votes: 16 YES 5 NO
passage
2026-07-01
Lifted From Table in Senate
2026-06-30
Laid On Table in Senate
2026-06-17
Reported Out of Committee (Executive) in Senate with 4 Favorable, 1 On Its Merits
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable
2026-06-17
Reported Out of Committee (Executive) in Senate with 4 Favorable, 1 On Its Merits
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable
2026-06-16
Assigned to Executive Committee in Senate
introduction,referral-committee
2026-06-16
Passed By House. Votes: 30 YES 10 NO 1 ABSENT
passage
2025-05-21
Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 3 On Its Merits
committee-passage
2025-05-08
Introduced and Assigned to Administration Committee in House
introduction,referral-committee
Versions
Documents
Votes
2/3
2026-06-16 · pass · 30-10
Member-level votes (41)
- Alonna Berry: yes
- Stephanie T. Bolden: yes
- Frank Burns: yes
- William Bush: yes
- William J. Carson: yes
- Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha: yes
- Richard G. Collins: yes
- Franklin D. Cooke: yes
- Daniel B. Short: no
- Timothy D. Dukes: no
- Mara Gorman: yes
- Ronald E. Gray: no
- Krista Griffith: yes
- Kerri Evelyn Harris: yes
- Debra Heffernan: yes
- Kevin S Hensley: no
- Jeff Hilovsky: no
- Valerie Jones Giltner: no
- Kendra Johnson: yes
- Kimberly Williams: yes
- Kamela T Smith: yes
- Larry Lambert: yes
- Sean M. Lynn: yes
- Michael F. Smith: yes
- Melissa Minor-Brown: yes
- Shannon Morris: no
- Eric Morrison: yes
- DeShanna U Neal: yes
- Josue O Ortega: yes
- Edward S. Osienski: yes
- Sophie Phillips: yes
- Charles S Postles Jr.: other
- Cyndie Romer: yes
- Melanie Ross Levin: yes
- Sherae'a Moore: yes
- Bryan W. Shupe: no
- Claire Snyder-Hall: yes
- Jeffrey N. Spiegelman: yes
- Jesse R. Vanderwende: no
- Madinah Wilson-Anton: yes
- Lyndon D. Yearick: no
2/3
2026-07-01 · pass · 16-5
Member-level votes (21)
- Darius J. Brown: yes
- Eric Buckson: no
- Daniel Cruce: yes
- Stephanie L. Hansen: yes
- Gerald W. Hocker: no
- Kyra L. Hoffner: yes
- Russell Huxtable: yes
- Dave G. Lawson: no
- S. Elizabeth Lockman: yes
- Spiros Mantzavinos: yes
- Trey Paradee: yes
- Brian Pettyjohn: no
- Marie Pinkney: yes
- Nicole Poore: yes
- Bryant L. Richardson: no
- Ray Seigfried: yes
- David P. Sokola: yes
- Laura V. Sturgeon: yes
- Bryan Townsend: yes
- John "Jack" Walsh: yes
- David L. Wilson: yes
Related bills
No related bills recorded for this bill.
Official source
Attribution
Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-10-21T20:32:26.024345Z
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