Delaware 150th General Assembly (2019-2020) Status: Enacted 12 D cosponsors

HB 38 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 15 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EARLY VOTING.

Last action — Signed by Governor

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed House
  4. ✓
    Passed Senate
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 16, 2019. Enacted.

Odds of enactment

High chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a high chance of becoming law.

Upgrade to see the exact probability and what's driving it.

A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 82% · moderate confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 24 sponsors

    5 primary, 19 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (12 D).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 2 recorded votes so far.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

This Act establishes in-person early voting in Delaware beginning January 1, 2022. Registered voters will be allowed to vote in-person during at least 10 days before an election, up to and including the Saturday and Sunday immediately before the election at locations determined by the State Election Commissioner. This Act also charges the State Election Commissioner with determining whether such voting should occur by voting machine or paper ballot. All other procedures relating to conducting voting are the same as for general election voting. Further, this Act requires that for statewide elections there must be at least 1 in-person polling place in each county, and an additional location in the City of Wilmington.

Bill Text

What changed in the latest version

12 added · 64 removed

12 line(s) added, 64 removed.

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Previous
Latest
Bentz & Rep.
Bentz HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 150th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE AMENDMENT NO.
Schwartzkopf & Sen.
1 TO HOUSE BILL NO.
Poore & Sen.
38 AMEND House Bill No.
Hansen & Sen.
38 by striking from the Enactment Clause the following:
Townsend Reps.
“(Two-thirds of all members elected to each house thereof concurring therein)” FURTHER AMEND House Bill No.
Baumbach, Briggs King, Bush, Chukwuocha, Cooke, Heffernan, Jaques, Q.
38 by striking line 10 in its entirety.
Johnson, Kowalko, Matthews, Mitchell, Osienski, Seigfried, Viola, K.
FURTHER AMEND House Bill No.
Williams;
38 on line 42 by striking “54,” as it appears therein.
Sens.
SYNOPSIS By its own Charter and State law, City of Wilmington municipal elections must comply with State election laws.
Lockman, Sokola, Sturgeon, Walsh HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 150th GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE BILL NO.
This amendment removes municipal elections because any change in State election law will necessarily require a change in City of Wilmington municipal elections.
38 AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 15 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EARLY VOTING.
HD :
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each house thereof concurring therein):
NSW :
Section 1.
TEH Page 1 of 1 Released:
Amend Part IV, Title 15 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
03/19/2019 12:50 PM 1031500083
Chapter 54.
EARLY VOTING § 5401.
Applicability.
This chapter applies to the following elections:
(1) A primary election.
(2) A general election.
(3) A special election to fill a vacancy in a statewide office, the General Assembly, or an office covered by Chapter 73 of this title.
(4) An election under Subchapter II of Chapter 75 of this title.
§ 5402.
Early voting;
designated locations.
The State Election Commissioner shall designate locations at which a qualified voter, duly registered, may vote in- person during at least 10 days before an election, up to and including the Saturday and Sunday immediately before an election.
§ 5403.
Designation and publication of early voting locations.
(a) The State Election Commissioner shall designate and publish the early voting locations at least 30 days before an election.
(b) The State Election Commissioner shall only designate a location as an early voting location if it meets the requirements of § 4512 of this title.
(c) In an election for a statewide office, at least 1 early voting location must be designated in each county, with an additional early voting location in the City of Wilmington.
LC :
MJC :
CM Page 1 of 2 Released:
01/15/2019 10:23 AM § 5404.
Hours at designated early voting locations.
(a) The State Election Commissioner shall open the designated early voting locations for at least 8 hours on each day of early voting.
(b) The State Election Commissioner shall close the designated early voting locations no earlier than 7 p.m.
on each day of early voting and shall open the designated early voting locations by 7 a.m.
on at least 5 of the early voting days.
Show all 68 changed rows (28 more)
Previous
Latest
§ 5405.
Procedure for conducting early voting.
Except as otherwise provided under this chapter, the procedure for early voting is as established under Chapter 49 of this title.
§ 5406.
Method of early voting.
The State Election Commissioner shall determine whether early voting occurs by voting machine or paper ballot.
§ 5407.
Tabulation of early voting ballots.
Early voting ballots must be tabulated at the same time as absentee ballots.
§ 5408.
Daily updates of polling records.
The Department of Elections shall establish procedures for daily updates of polling records to ensure the integrity of each election.
Section 2.
Amend § 7528, Title 15 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
§ 7528.
General provisions.
All of the provisions of this title pertaining to elections, including registration of voters, Chapters 11, 13, 17, 19, 20, 21, and 23, primary elections and nomination of candidates, Chapters 31 and 33, general elections, Chapters 41, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 54, 55, and 57, as well as Chapter 50 of this title, shall be applicable to the holding of elections in accordance with this subchapter.
Section 3.
This Act takes effect January 1, 2022.
SYNOPSIS This Act establishes in-person early voting in Delaware beginning January 1, 2022.
Registered voters will be allowed to vote in-person during at least 10 days before an election, up to and including the Saturday and Sunday immediately before the election at locations determined by the State Election Commissioner.
This Act also charges the State Election Commissioner with determining whether such voting should occur by voting machine or paper ballot.
All other procedures relating to conducting voting are the same as for general election voting.
Further, this Act requires that for statewide elections there must be at least 1 in-person polling place in each county, and an additional location in the City of Wilmington.
LC :
MJC :
CM Page 2 of 2 Released:
01/15/2019 10:23 AM 4801500016
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Action History

  1. Signed by Governor

  2. Passed By Senate. Votes: 16 YES 5 NO

  3. Reported Out of Committee (Elections, Govt. & Community Affairs) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits

  4. Assigned to Elections, Govt. & Community Affairs Committee in Senate

  5. Passed By House. Votes: 34 YES 6 NO 1 ABSENT

  6. Amendment HA 1 to HB 38 - Passed In House by Voice Vote

  7. Amendment HA 1 to HB 38 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

  8. Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 3 On Its Merits

  9. Introduced and Assigned to Administration Committee in House

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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5 sponsors · 19 co-sponsors · 38 not signed on · 11 voted No

Sponsors (5)

Co-sponsors (19)

Not signed on (38)

38 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 38 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

2/3

Passed 16 Yea · 5 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 6100
Democratic 9000
Republican 1400
Total 16500
% of votes cast 76%24%0%0%
How each member voted (21)
Member Party Vote
Anthony Delcollo — Yea
Bruce C. Ennis — Yea
Catherine Cloutier — Yea
Colin Bonini — Nay
David B. McBride — Yea
Ernesto B Lopez — Yea
Harris B. McDowell — Yea
Bryan Townsend Democratic Yea
Darius J. Brown Democratic Yea
David P. Sokola Democratic Yea
John "Jack" Walsh Democratic Yea
Laura V. Sturgeon Democratic Yea
Nicole Poore Democratic Yea
S. Elizabeth Lockman Democratic Yea
Stephanie L. Hansen Democratic Yea
Trey Paradee Democratic Yea
Brian Pettyjohn Republican Nay
Bryant L. Richardson Republican Yea
Dave G. Lawson Republican Nay
David L. Wilson Republican Nay
Gerald W. Hocker Republican Nay

Official roll call →

SM

Passed 34 Yea · 6 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 16001
Democratic 12000
Republican 6600
Total 34601
% of votes cast 83%15%0%2%
How each member voted (41)
Member Party Vote
Andria L. Bennett — Yea
David Bentz — Yea
Earl G. Jaques Jr. — Yea
Gerald L. Brady — Yea
John A. Kowalko — Yea
John J. Viola — Yea
John L. Mitchell — Yea
Michael Ramone — Yea
Paul S. Baumbach — Yea
Peter C. Schwartzkopf — Yea
Quinton Johnson — Yea
Raymond Seigfried — Yea
Ruth Briggs King — Yea
Sean Matthews — Not Voting
Sherry Dorsey Walker — Yea
Stephen Smyk — Yea
Valerie Longhurst — Yea
Debra Heffernan Democratic Yea
Edward S. Osienski Democratic Yea
Franklin D. Cooke Democratic Yea
Kendra Johnson Democratic Yea
Kimberly Williams Democratic Yea
Krista Griffith Democratic Yea
Melissa Minor-Brown Democratic Yea
Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha Democratic Yea
Sean M. Lynn Democratic Yea
Stephanie T. Bolden Democratic Yea
William Bush Democratic Yea
William J. Carson Democratic Yea
Bryan W. Shupe Republican Yea
Charles S Postles Jr. Republican Nay
Daniel B. Short Republican Yea
Jeffrey N. Spiegelman Republican Yea
Jesse R. Vanderwende Republican Nay
Kevin S Hensley Republican Yea
Lyndon D. Yearick Republican Nay
Michael F. Smith Republican Yea
Richard G. Collins Republican Nay
Ronald E. Gray Republican Nay
Shannon Morris Republican Nay
Timothy D. Dukes Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

elections
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HB 38 do?
This Act establishes in-person early voting in Delaware beginning January 1, 2022. Registered voters will be allowed to vote in-person during at least 10 days before an election, up to and including the Saturday and Sunday immediately before the election at locations determined by the State Election Commissioner. This Act also charges the State Election Commissioner with determining whether such voting should occur by voting machine or paper ballot. All other procedures relating to conducting voting are the same as for general election voting. Further, this Act requires that for statewide elections there must be at least 1 in-person polling place in each county, and an additional location in the City of Wilmington.
Who sponsors HB 38?
HB 38 is sponsored by Kimberly Williams (Democratic), Edward S. Osienski (Democratic), Debra Heffernan (Democratic), Franklin D. Cooke (Democratic), Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha (Democratic), William Bush (Democratic), John "Jack" Walsh, Laura V. Sturgeon, David P. Sokola (Democratic), S. Elizabeth Lockman (Democratic), Bryan Townsend (Democratic), Stephanie L. Hansen (Democratic), Nicole Poore (Democratic), Kendra Johnson (Democratic), David Bentz, Peter C. Schwartzkopf, Paul S. Baumbach, Ruth Briggs King, Earl G. Jaques Jr., John A. Kowalko, Sean Matthews, John L. Mitchell, Raymond Seigfried, and John J. Viola.
What is the current status of HB 38?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced January 16, 2019. Enacted.
Where can I track HB 38?
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