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# Delaware Supreme Court Upholds Permanent Absentee Voting
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/state-news-delaware-2026-09-23-a/
- Published: 2026-09-23T06:25:03.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-23T06:25:03.000Z
- Description: Delaware’s Supreme Court unanimously upheld the state’s permanent absentee-voting statute, clearing the Department of Elections to send ballots while preserving eligibility and verification requirements.
- Author: News Desk
- Tags: Politics, Delaware

Delaware’s Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the state’s permanent absentee-voting statute, clearing the Department of Elections to begin sending ballots to eligible voters ahead of the November general election.

The court’s Sept. 21 [opinion](https://courts.delaware.gov/opinions/download.aspx?id=401170&ref=theamericanquorum.com) affirmed a Court of Chancery ruling against state Sen. Gerald Hocker and Steven Washington, two candidates who argued that the law improperly expanded the categories of voters allowed to cast absentee ballots under the Delaware Constitution. The justices concluded that the statute does not authorize absentee voting by people who are constitutionally ineligible.

The distinction at the center of the case is between eligibility and administration. Delaware’s Constitution limits absentee voting to specified circumstances, including public service, occupation, sickness or physical disability, vacation absence and religious observance. The permanent-status system does not add a new reason to vote absentee; it creates an ongoing process for a subset of voters who already qualify.

The General Assembly established that system in 2010\. The original [legislation](https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=19927&ref=theamericanquorum.com) created permanent absentee status for disabled voters and people covered by federal protections for military and overseas citizens. It also directed the state to provide an online system through which absentee voters could check their ballot status.

Hocker and Washington contended that automatic ballot distribution could allow someone whose circumstances had changed to continue voting absentee without a fresh eligibility determination. The Supreme Court rejected that premise, emphasizing that “permanent” status is conditional. Voters must keep the Department of Elections informed when their qualifying reason changes, and they must attest under penalty of perjury to continuing eligibility when returning each ballot.

The court also described the state’s verification procedures. Before each election, the department sends permanent absentee voters a reminder of the eligibility rules and a new application. Returned mail can trigger removal from the list, deceased voters are removed, and each submitted ballot carries a renewed eligibility attestation. The justices held that the challengers had not shown the statute to be unconstitutional in every application, the standard governing their facial challenge.

The decision has an immediate operational effect. In a joint state [release](https://news.delaware.gov/2026/09/22/ag-jennings-announces-delaware-supreme-court-victory-protecting-permanent-absentee-voting/?ref=theamericanquorum.com), the Department of Elections said it would soon begin sending ballots to permanent absentee voters. The same release noted that more than 38,000 Delawareans used absentee ballots in the November 2024 general election, though that total included absentee voters beyond the permanent-status group.

For voters, the ruling preserves the convenience of receiving ballots automatically while leaving the underlying constitutional qualifications intact. For election administrators, it removes a major legal uncertainty at the point when ballots must move into the mail. The court did not create no-excuse absentee voting; it upheld a mechanism designed for qualified voters whose eligibility can continue across elections, subject to notice, removal and per-ballot certification safeguards.