Sign Up
SB 3 Delaware Senate · 153rd General Assembly (2025-2026)

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

Summary
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.
Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Apr 2025
Committee Review
May 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Governor
Introduced Apr 9, 2025 Last action Apr 14, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HA 1 to SS 1 for SB 3 → Bill Text · 6 edits
MODERATE
The House version (HA 1) sought to remove permanent absentee status from the bill entirely. The Senate Substitute (SS 1) replaces the entire text with a comprehensive constitutional amendment that creates an absolute right to vote by absentee ballot without an excuse, while simultaneously establishing permanent absentee status for specific categories of voters (military, sick or disabled individuals, caregivers, overseas citizens, and others). This is a significant policy reversal: the House tried to eliminate permanent absentee status, and the Senate put it back with defined eligibility criteria.
SCOPE

Creates a constitutional right for any qualified voter to vote by absentee ballot without providing an excuse (Section 4A(a)).

Amends Section 3 of Article V to clarify that the absentee ballot oath/affirmation is in lieu of the general voter oath required under that section.

ELIGIBILITY

Establishes permanent absentee status for nine specific categories: public service members and their dependents, armed forces/merchant marine, Red Cross/USO personnel attached to military, those absent due to military-related illness or injury, UOCAVA-authorized voters, other federally authorized voters, sick or permanently disabled individuals, caregivers of family members requiring constant care, and US citizens temporarily residing outside the country.

REQUIREMENT

Requires a voter to request an absentee ballot once per election cycle (defined as the day after the most recent general election through the date of the next general election), after which no further requests are needed for that cycle.

ENFORCEMENT

Requires each absentee ballot to contain an oath or affirmation that the voter's vote is free from improper influence, and requires voters using permanent absentee status to take an oath each election confirming they remain eligible.

TECHNICAL

Sponsorship changed from a single House representative (Rep. Bush) to a multi-member group led by Senator Brown with multiple Senate and House co-sponsors; chamber changed from House to Senate.

Floor votes · House Mar 26, 2026

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
8
Key actions
5
Committee
1
Amendments
2
Apr 14, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed By Senate. Votes: 14 YES 5 NO 2 ABSENT
upper
Mar 26, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed By House. Votes: 33 YES 7 NO 1 ABSENT
lower
Mar 26, 2026
Lower · Passed
Amendment HA 1 to SS 1 - Passed In House by Voice Vote
lower
Mar 25, 2026
Introduced
Amendment HA 1 to SS 1 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
upper
May 21, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 3 On Its Merits
lower
Apr 15, 2025
Introduced
Assigned to Administration Committee in House
lower
Apr 10, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed By Senate. Votes: 16 YES 5 NO
upper
Apr 9, 2025
Introduced
was introduced and adopted in lieu of SB 3
upper
21 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Bill Bush
Bill Bush
DDemocratic
DE
29
P
Photo of Brian Pettyjohn
Brian Pettyjohn
RRepublican
DE
19
P
Photo of Bryan Townsend
Bryan Townsend
DDemocratic
DE
11
P
Photo of Bryant Richardson
Bryant Richardson
RRepublican
DE
21
P
Photo of Claire Snyder-Hall
Claire Snyder-Hall
DDemocratic
DE
14
P
Photo of Cyndie Romer
Cyndie Romer
DDemocratic
DE
25
P
Photo of Darius Brown
Darius Brown
DDemocratic
DE
2
P
Photo of Dave Sokola
Dave Sokola
DDemocratic
DE
8
P
Photo of Ed Osienski
Ed Osienski
DDemocratic
DE
24
P
Photo of Eric Morrison
Eric Morrison
DDemocratic
DE
27
P
Photo of Frank Cooke
Frank Cooke
DDemocratic
DE
16
P
Photo of Kerri Harris
Kerri Harris
DDemocratic
DE
32
P
Photo of Laura Sturgeon
Laura Sturgeon
DDemocratic
DE
4
P
Photo of Madinah Wilson-Anton
Madinah Wilson-Anton
DDemocratic
DE
26
P
Photo of Mara Gorman
Mara Gorman
DDemocratic
DE
23
P
Photo of Marie Pinkney
Marie Pinkney
DDemocratic
DE
13
P
Photo of Melanie Ross Levin
Melanie Ross Levin
DDemocratic
DE
10
P
Photo of Nicole Poore
Nicole Poore
DDemocratic
DE
12
P
Photo of Russ Huxtable
Russ Huxtable
DDemocratic
DE
6
P
Photo of Spiros Mantzavinos
Spiros Mantzavinos
DDemocratic
DE
7
P
Photo of Trey Paradee
Trey Paradee
DDemocratic
DE
17