To: The Delaware State Senate
Tell the Delaware State Senate to Support Same-Day Registration Today!
Delaware has the great opportunity to modernize its voting process to meet the needs of today’s citizen. Same-Day Registration is a common‑sense reform that will allow Delawareans to register to vote and then cast a regular ballot as a one-stop process at every polling location.
Why is this important?
Every eligible American should have an equal opportunity to vote, and it should be free, fair and easily accessible. But due to outdated standards and practices, far too many people find themselves excluded from exercising this right. Same-Day Registration (SDR) is a pro-voter reform that fixes this problem and re-orients our democratic systems back towards the people.
Senator Margaret Rose Henry is working to expand voting rights in Delaware by sponsoring an SDR bill that will allow eligible Delaware voters to register to vote on Election Day and then immediately cast a ballot.
SDR pays numerous dividends. First, it provides an important opportunity to dramatically increase voter registration and electoral participation, as SDR states typically rank among the highest in the nation in voter turnout. Second, SDR remedies inaccurate voter rolls and protects the integrity of the vote, by allowing voters to update their records at all polling locations. Third, SDR is cost-effective, as it reduces the need for paper provisional ballots — ballots that often go uncounted in Delaware.
SDR particularly facilitates higher turnout among marginalized communities historically underrepresented in our democracy, including (but not limited to) citizens who are low-income, young people, and people of color.
In a 1957 speech titled "Give Us The Ballot," Dr. King made a vivid case for why voting rights are so critical in our society: "So long as I do not firmly and irrevocably possess the right to vote I do not possess myself. I cannot make up my mind — it is made up for me. I cannot live as a democratic citizen, observing the laws I have helped to enact — I can only submit to the edict of others."
Tell the Delaware State Senate to adopt a common-sense upgrade to the state’s electoral system, and ensure that all those who are qualified to vote possess the most efficient means to do so.