On Friday, July 22, 2022, Julianne E. Murray, Esquire, filed suit in the Court of Chancery for the State of Delaware on behalf of three Delaware citizens seeking a permanent injunction and a declaratory judgment that the newly-signed vote by mail statute (“SB320”) is unconstitutional under the Delaware Constitution. The suit seeks expedited processing.
SB 320 creates permanent, no-excuse, vote by mail. The Delaware Constitution provides for a very limited list of excuses for not voting in person in a general election. The lawsuit argues that the Delaware Constitution must be amended if the General Assembly wishes to expand the list of excuses and that such a change cannot be done by statute.
“We have been waiting since June 30 for the Governor to sign this bill so that we could file suit,” said Murray. “During the floor debates in both houses, members of the General Assembly said that, despite testimony that the statute is unconstitutional, they were going to pass the law and let it be sorted out in the courts. So be it. We filed within approximately two hours of the Governor’s signature – we want to get before the Court as quickly as possible,” continued Murray.
The plaintiffs are all registered voters in Delaware: a Republican, a Democrat and an Unaffiliated. In addition, one is from New Castle County, one from Kent County and one from Sussex County. “This is significant because the suit is being filed for all Delawareans and is not intended to be one political party against the other political party. At the end of the day this affects everyone in Delaware regardless of their political persuasion. It is important to defend the Delaware Constitution,” stated Murray.
“This lawsuit is not an attack on vote by mail. If the General Assembly wants permanent, no-excuse vote by mail, they should amend the constitution” stated Plaintiff Nick Miles. “People are going to try to make this a partisan issue and it is really nonpartisan. This is not about the virtues or flaws of vote by mail. This is about following the proper procedure. The General Assembly didn’t have the votes to amend the constitution properly so they are attempting to work around that process by passing this statute. The work around is the issue and is what we should be talking about,” continued Miles.
Source: Murray