DE SB 3

Status unknown

AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE V OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO VOTING.

Delaware · 2025-2026 Regular Session (153rd General Assembly) · upper

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Quick answers

Did DE SB 3 pass?

The current status of DE SB 3 is not known from the official record. Latest recorded action (2026-04-14): Passed By Senate. Votes: 14 YES 5 NO 2 ABSENT

What is DE SB 3 about?

This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 3. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 3. in that it incorporates technical corrections made to the Delaware Constitution by House Bill No. 10 (153rd General Assembly). Like Senate Bill No. 3, 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 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.

Who sponsors DE SB 3?

Madinah Wilson-Anton, Brian Pettyjohn, Cyndie Romer and 19 others are the primary sponsors of DE SB 3.

Description

Introduced: 2025-04-09
Latest action: 2026-04-14 — Passed By Senate. Votes: 14 YES 5 NO 2 ABSENT
Bill type: bill
Last updated: —

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

2026-04-14
Passed By Senate. Votes: 14 YES 5 NO 2 ABSENT
passage
2026-03-26
Passed By House. Votes: 33 YES 7 NO 1 ABSENT
passage
2026-03-26
Amendment HA 1 to SS 1 - Passed In House by Voice Vote
amendment-passage
2026-03-25
Amendment HA 1 to SS 1 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
amendment-introduction
2025-05-21
Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 3 On Its Merits
committee-passage
2025-04-15
Assigned to Administration Committee in House
introduction,referral-committee
2025-04-10
Passed By Senate. Votes: 16 YES 5 NO
passage
2025-04-09
was introduced and adopted in lieu of SB 3
introduction

Versions

HA 1 to SS 1 for SB 3Compare

Documents

Votes

2/3
2025-04-10 · pass · 16-5
Member-level votes (21)
- Darius J. Brown: yes
- Eric Buckson: yes
- 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: no
2/3
2026-03-26 · pass · 33-7
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: yes
- Mara Gorman: yes
- Ronald E. Gray: no
- Krista Griffith: yes
- Kerri Evelyn Harris: yes
- Debra Heffernan: yes
- Kevin S Hensley: yes
- Jeff Hilovsky: yes
- 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.: yes
- Cyndie Romer: yes
- Melanie Ross Levin: yes
- Sherae'a Moore: other
- 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
2026-04-14 · pass · 14-5
Member-level votes (21)
- Darius J. Brown: yes
- Eric Buckson: other
- 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: other
- 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: no

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=142099

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T03:53:51.443619Z

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