Delaware News Journal
Editor s note: This story has been corrected to show that a constitutional amendment requires 14 votes in the Delaware Senate. Democrats would have enough votes without Republican support.
As many states consider law changes that would make it harder for people to vote, Delaware is moving in the opposite direction.
The Democratic-controlled Statehouse is trying to pass several bills before the next election that would make it easier for people to register to vote and cast their ballot, reshaping the state s democratic process for years to come.
If the bills pass, residents could get automatically registered when getting their driver s license. They could also register on the same day as the election instead of having to do it at least a month beforehand. Voters could also vote by mail and wouldn t need an excuse to vote absentee, similar to the 2020 election during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bill’s chief sponsor, House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst, D-Bear, described the bill as a preventative measure.
“I think this is just another avenue for illegal guns to be on our streets and be in the hands of the wrong people,” she said, referring to homemade guns.
“I think you’re not seeing a lot of ghost guns now, but they’re starting to become more and more out on the streets,” Longhurst added.
In response to a question from Rep. Tim Dukes, R-Laurel, Longhurst could not say whether anyone in Delaware has been killed with a ghost gun, but that state police have reported confiscating about 60 homemade guns since 2019.