The Delaware House Elections & Government Affairs Committee advanced two bills: HB301, which upgrades election-day violence and threats near polling places to a class G felony, and HB188, which would allow unaffiliated voters to participate in primary elections of their choice without acquiring party affiliation. Both bills were released from committee, with HB301 passing unanimously and HB188 passing over the sole objection of Vice Chair Morrison.
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Representative Morrison argued that HB188 'disenfranchises voters because it waters down the votes of voters who belong to a particular political party' and that it would further disenfranchise minority voters who overwhelmingly support Democrats by diluting their votes in choosing the Democratic nominee. Representative Michael Smith responded that only 2 out of every 10 primary voters actually vote in the primary election, meaning a very small minority of the population is already determining who the final candidate will be, and argued the bill expands participation rather than reducing it.
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“We saw the January 6th insurrection. No matter what anybody calls that, it was an insurrection. We have seen very, very. We saw an assassination attempt upon our current president and we had presidents who have been assassinated. So I think that this is serious enough. Folks should feel safe to go work for the Department of Elections. Folks should feel safe to go practice their right to vote in a democracy.”
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Sign in to subscribeGood afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon. Hello and thank you for being present here today. Before we start the meeting, members, please be aware that there are microphones at your desks that will pick up conversation easily. The mics are connected to the live stream so that the public may watch all the proceedings. The Elections and Government Affairs Committee is called to order. And in accordance with the rules and regulations, members of the public can participate either in person or virtually through our Zoom webinar. The public can participate virtually by registering through through the meeting link posted on the General Assembly's website. Instructions for providing public comment are available on the website also under Committee meetings notice and will also be shared during the public comment portion of the hearing. Written comments may be submitted to the House of House Committee commentelaware.gov and any comments received within 24 hours after the hearing will be included in the public records. Members of the public physically present for the meeting may sign up. There's a sheet back there. Can you hold that up? If they haven't signed up already to speak on the bill and will be heard. So please…
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