DELAWARE — A new bill introduced in the Delaware General Assembly aims to change the state’s primary election rules by allowing unaffiliated voters to participate. House Bill 188 proposes an amendment to Title 15 of the Delaware Code to permit voters who are not registered with any political party to vote in the primary election of their choice. Currently, Delaware operates under a closed primary system, where only voters registered with a political party can cast ballots in that party’s primary. If passed, the bill would allow the approximately 170,000 unaffiliated voters in Delaware to participate in any party’s primary without registering with that party. However, party-affiliated voters would still be restricted to voting only in their registered party’s primary. This means no crossover voting for those already registered with a party. The bill has been referred to the Election and Government Affairs Committee, with a hearing anticipated before the legislative session ends in late June.
