A Delaware Republican state senator has lost his second lawsuit in two years attempting to dismantle the state’s permanent absentee voting program, after the Delaware Court of Chancery issued summary judgment against him on September 4, 2026 — one of three separate court rulings that week that went against efforts to restrict ballot access ahead of the midterms.
The Chancery Court ruling
State Sen. Gerald Hocker, a Sussex County Republican, sued to strike down Delaware’s permanent absentee voting law, which allows voters with disabilities, chronic illness, or age-related mobility limits to receive mail ballots automatically each election cycle without reapplying every year. The Court of Chancery categorically denied his challenge, ruling in the State’s favor on summary judgment — meaning the judge found no factual dispute required a trial and the law stands as written. Attorney General Kathy Jennings, whose office defended the statute, said the ruling protects a program that tens of thousands of Delawareans depend on, including veterans, senior citizens, people with disabilities, and caregivers who vote on their behalf.
A second loss on nearly the same claim
This was not Hocker’s first attempt. He brought a nearly identical challenge in 2024, which the Delaware Supreme Court rejected in a unanimous ruling. Notably, Hocker himself voted in favor of the permanent absentee law when the General Assembly originally passed it, a reversal that Democratic officials have repeatedly pointed to as evidence the litigation is politically motivated rather than grounded in a genuine legal defect. Jennings, in a statement following the ruling, called the wave of voting-rights lawsuits nationally a “shameless, coordinated attack against the fabric of our democracy,” tying Delaware’s case to a broader pattern of Republican-led challenges to mail and absentee voting systems in multiple states this cycle.
Two more rulings the same week
The Chancery Court decision was one of three rulings Delaware’s AG office touted in a single week. On August 31, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals denied an interlocutory appeal from Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a Koch network-affiliated group, in its suit against Jennings over Delaware’s campaign finance disclosure rules; the case now returns to the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware for further proceedings. The same day as the Hocker ruling, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted a preliminary injunction in Cal v. USPS, a multistate coalition lawsuit that blocked new U.S. Postal Service rules requiring federal approval of ballot envelope designs and a voter-tracking portal — restrictions that election officials in Delaware and other states argued would have slowed absentee ballot delivery during the fall election.
Why permanent absentee voting matters this cycle
Delaware adopted permanent absentee status to reduce paperwork barriers for voters who cannot easily visit a polling place every election, part of a broader expansion of mail voting access the state enacted in recent years. Election administrators say the program mirrors similar permanent-absentee or “permanent mail voter” lists used in states like California, Washington, and Colorado. Voting rights advocates argue that repeated legal challenges to such programs — even when they consistently fail in court — can create confusion among voters who may not realize their absentee status remains valid, which is why the state is urging voters to double-check their standing.
What voters need to do now
Despite the ruling upholding the program, Delaware election officials are advising voters already enrolled in permanent absentee status to submit a fresh application ahead of the 2026 general election to make sure ballots are mailed to the correct address and there is no lapse in delivery. The state’s Department of Elections has said it will process renewal applications on a rolling basis through the fall.
The fight isn’t over
Hocker has not said whether he will appeal the Chancery Court’s summary judgment to the Delaware Supreme Court a second time, though his previous appeal there ended in a unanimous defeat. Republican legislators in Delaware and several other states have signaled they intend to keep pressing challenges to mail and absentee voting rules through the November midterms, arguing such systems need tighter verification, while Democratic officials and voting-rights groups counter that the repeated litigation — mostly unsuccessful — is designed to sow doubt about ballot security rather than fix any demonstrated problem. With early voting periods approaching in multiple states, courts are likely to keep ruling on these disputes right up to Election Day.
Photo: Robert Stinnett / BY via flickr
