Critics Note House and Senate Democrats Continue to Block Delaware Election Reforms in the Legislature
Governor Matt Meyer on Wednesday signed Executive Order 19, establishing the Delaware Task Force on Free, Fair, and Secure Elections, characterizing the action as an effort to safeguard the state from unconstitutional federal interference.
“The basic concept of one person, one vote is being threatened, and it’s not an accident,” the governor said at a press event held on the east side of Legislative Hall. “There are three main strategies used by aspiring authoritarians to take power away from the people and institutions that protect our democracy. First, they capture the system’s referees; second, they sideline those who could oppose them; and third, they rewrite the rules to give themselves an unfair advantage over their opponents. Right now, we’re seeing a federal government working on all three of those…After hearing calls from the federal government to take over state elections, I was reminded of a fundamental American truth: If citizens cannot trust the integrity of our elections, they will lose faith in democracy itself.”
The 20-member task force consists of law enforcement officials and elected and appointed Democratic leaders. Among the group’s tasks will be assessing election security protocols, systems, infrastructure, and operational preparedness. It will also “identify opportunities to enhance Delaware’s preparedness, response capabilities, and resilience to emerging election-related threats.”
Critics note that while applauding the governor’s action, Delaware House and Senate Democrats in recent years have blocked multiple Republican proposals aimed at strengthening election integrity. These measures included studying ways to improve the accuracy of voter registration lists, increasing penalties for voter fraud, adopting more robust voter identification procedures, and enhancing verification of absentee ballot signatures. Most of these proposals died in committee, without a hearing.
In the current legislative session, House Bill 86, which seeks to expand the scope of mandatory election recounts to any election where the margin of victory is 1% or less, has been held in a Senate committee since passing the House last June.
“For years, I have called on the State of Delaware to take election security seriously,” said State Rep. Bryan Shupe (R-Milford South, Ellendale), the prime sponsor of HB 86 and other pending election reform measures. “That includes cleaning up voter rolls, auditing automatic voter registration through the DMV, ensuring polling locations remain consistent, and stopping policies like same-day registration that weaken confidence in the system.
“These concerns…come directly from residents who have shown me real examples,” Rep. Shupe continued. “Affidavits and ballots sent to homes with names of people who no longer live there. Ballots tied to deceased individuals. Election security should be about protecting the integrity of the system for every Delawarean. It should be about accuracy, fairness, and trust across the board.”
