DELAWARE - A Delaware court order will protect permanent absentee voting for certain voters in the 2026 general election while a legal challenge brought by state Sen. Gerald Hocker moves forward.
Attorney General Kathy Jennings announced that her office defeated Hocker's request for a temporary restraining order after he filed suit Aug. 5 against State Election Commissioner Anthony Albence and the Delaware Department of Elections.
Hocker's lawsuit challenges Delaware's permanent absentee voting system, which allows qualifying voters to remain on a permanent absentee list and automatically receive absentee ballots for elections.
The Delaware Constitution permits absentee voting for qualified voters who meet specified circumstances, including illness, disability, certain work or public service obligations, vacation or religious reasons.
Hocker argues the state does not require voters with permanent absentee status to verify their qualifying circumstances before every election. He contends that could allow people who no longer meet the constitutional requirements to receive and cast absentee ballots.
"When a ballot is automatically mailed to an address where the voter no longer lives, or to an address associated with someone who has died, there is an obvious opportunity for someone other than the intended voter to gain possession of that ballot," Hocker previously said in a Facebook post.
Jennings has opposed the challenge.
"This is another 11th-hour voter suppression attempt from a plaintiff who seems to have forgotten that he once voted to pass the law he now seeks to destroy”, said Attorney General Kathy Jennings. “Tens of thousands of veterans, senior citizens, and Delawareans with disabilities rely on permanent absentee voting. We’ve beaten this lawsuit before and we’ll do it again.”
Hocker brought a similar legal challenge in 2024. The Delaware Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in that case.
On Aug. 19, the Court of Chancery entered an order protecting two groups of permanent absentee voters for the 2026 general election: voters who qualify under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act and voters who submitted permanent absentee applications after the conclusion of the 2024 general election.
The effect of the order on other permanent absentee voters will depend on the outcome of the case.
If the Department of Elections and Jennings prevail, all permanent absentee voters will receive ballots for the 2026 general election as they have in previous years, regardless of when they applied. If Hocker prevails, permanent absentee voters would receive ballots for the general election only if they renew their absentee applications for the current election cycle or qualify under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.
More than 38,000 Delawareans, including veterans, people with disabilities and caregivers, used absentee ballots in the November 2024 general election, according to the Delaware Department of Justice.
Hocker is running for reelection to Delaware's 20th State Senate District in the Nov. 3 general election.
