By Rose Krebs

Law360 (August 19, 2020, 8:52 PM EDT) -- Delaware Republicans filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Chancery Court seeking to bar the state from proceeding with universal vote-by-mail measures for the Nov. 3 general election, arguing the measures violate the state's constitution and "threaten the integrity" of the election.

The Republican State Committee of Delaware's suit seeks injunctive relief against the First State's Department of Elections and its Commissioner Anthony J. Albence, as well as a declaration by the court that the vote-by-mail measures in place for the upcoming general election are "unconstitutional."

"The new voting procedure introduced by [House Bill] 346, and signed into law by Governor [John] Carney in July, upsets established constitutional means for voting absentee by flooding all registered voters with unsolicited applications to receive a voting by mail ballot, allowing any voter for any reason (or no reason at all), to vote by mail," the complaint said.

In its suit, the state GOP argues that the universal vote-by-mail system "impermissibly expands the enumerated and exhaustive grounds for voting via absentee mail ballot" contained in the state's constitution.

Although the general assembly is permitted under the state constitution to adopt certain emergency legislation "in order to insure continuity of state and local governmental operations in periods of emergency," the committee argues universal vote-by-mail is not needed during the COVD-19 pandemic.

"However, notwithstanding the severity of the impact of the pandemic on social life, 'vote by mail' hardly is necessary 'to insure continuity of ... governmental operations' at this time," the suit said. "First, all regular polling places will be open for in-person voting on November 3, 2020. Second, the Delaware Constitution already permits those sick or with physical disability to vote absentee — and the state previously announced that it would interpret this language to include any voter who has an at-risk condition or is caring for an at-risk person."

The committee also contends the universal vote-by-mail system is "rife with potential problems and pitfalls," including "untimely delivery of mail and ballots being rejected for non-compliance with the required standards."

Those potential issues may threaten the "integrity" of the election, the suit claims. Delaware's June presidential primary, in which anyone could vote by absentee ballot, saw thousands of ballots rejected for various reasons, the committee contends.

"In the recent Delaware presidential primary, 5.2% of voters who thought they had cast their votes in the primary by mail had their votes rejected," the suit said. "In a close statewide or local election, 5.2% of the vote might easily change the outcome of the election."

In a news release, the state GOP also claimed there have been issues getting ballots sent to the correct addresses.

"We want anyone who believes their health would be adversely affected if they voted in person, to vote absentee," said GOP state chair Jane Brady. "But we believe the vote-by-mail statute passed by the General Assembly is not constitutional in Delaware, and that the system is more subject to fraud than absentee ballots or voting in person."

Universal vote-by-mail "has served to disenfranchise voters, not make it easier for them to vote," Brady alleged.

Counsel for the Delaware GOP and a representative for the state Department of Elections did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The state GOP committee is seeking an expedited injunction to bar the state Department of Elections "from mailing out 'vote by mail' ballots or otherwise informing voters that they may vote absentee except for the specific reasons established by the Delaware Constitution," according to its suit.

It also asks the court to declare that the state General Assembly "exceeded" its constitutional authority and improperly applied certain provisions of the state's constitution when it enacted H.B. 346.

The Chancery suit comes on the heels of a suit filed Tuesday by President Donald Trump's reelection campaign demanding that a New Jersey federal court block an executive order from Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy authorizing vote-by-mail procedures for the November general election, claiming the move was unconstitutional and would lead to voter fraud in a state with "a sordid history of illegitimate elections."

Murphy's directive, which orders that ballots be mailed to all active registered voters, drew accusations from the campaign and national and state GOP committees that he had usurped the state legislature's authority to regulate elections and creating "a recipe for disaster" with respect to invalid voting.

Also, attorneys general in Washington and Pennsylvania said Tuesday they were suing on behalf of a broad coalition of states challenging operational changes within the U.S. Postal Service, hours before the service announced it would halt further changes until after the November election.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson said that changes to Postal Service operations, including the removal of mail sorting equipment and the elimination of overtime, represented an effort to suppress turnout for an election in which voters are expected to rely in record numbers on mail-in ballots as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro added that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's announced suspension of further changes at the Postal Service wasn't good enough and did not address operational changes already in place.

Counsel information for the Department of Elections was not available Wednesday.

The Delaware GOP is represented by Julia B. Klein of Klein LLC.

The case is The Republican State Committee of Delaware et al. v. The State of Delaware Department of Elections et al., case number 2020-0685, in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware.

--Additional reporting by Bill Wichert and Matt Fair. Editing by Adam LoBelia.

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