republic-os/legislation/us/states/de/149/hb-47.md

type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags

type	title	description	jurisdiction	legislature	session	identifier	citation	classification	subjects	status	primary_sponsors	version_count	action_count	vote_count	first_action	last_action	source	source_identifier	source_url	source_hash	vintage	source_snapshot	retrieved_at	confidence	tags
Bill	AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 15 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ABSENTEE VOTING.	This bill removes the notary requirement for requests for absentee ballots. Delaware is the only state that requires a notary to authorize a voter's affidavit for an absentee ballot. In some cases, the potential voter may have to pay for the notary and Delaware essentially charges them to vote.	us/states/de	Delaware General Assembly	149	HB 47	Delaware HB 47 (149)	bill		enacted	Brian J. Bushweller Brian Pettyjohn Kimberly Williams Lyndon D. Yearick	1	13	3	2017-01-24	2017-07-28	openstates	ocd-bill/a3f11567-9816-4af6-99fe-704cccebcd17	https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=25413	678496a572b61fcc18fd1e8bb3d6116e74c46ad3ae6dce02fc3e6893f8a7003f	2026-07-01	https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump	2026-07-06	reported	legislation bill us-de

Delaware HB 47 (149) — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 15 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ABSENTEE VOTING.

This bill removes the notary requirement for requests for absentee ballots. Delaware is the only state that requires a notary to authorize a voter's affidavit for an absentee ballot. In some cases, the potential voter may have to pay for the notary and Delaware essentially charges them to vote.

Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. Bill Text (committee substitute) — source

Votes

• SM — 39–0 (pass) · lower
• SM — 19–0 (pass) · upper
• SM — 37–0 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

• Brian J. Bushweller — primary (person)
• Brian Pettyjohn — primary (person)
• Kimberly Williams — primary (person)
• Lyndon D. Yearick — primary (person)
• Bruce C. Ennis — cosponsor (person)
• Daniel B. Short — cosponsor (person)
• David Bentz — cosponsor (person)
• Debra Heffernan — cosponsor (person)
• F. Gary Simpson — cosponsor (person)
• Harris B. McDowell — cosponsor (person)
• John A. Kowalko — cosponsor (person)
• John Walsh — cosponsor (person)
• Joseph E. Miro — cosponsor (person)
• Margaret Rose Henry — cosponsor (person)
• Paul S. Baumbach — cosponsor (person)
• Timothy D. Dukes — cosponsor (person)
• Trey Charles Paradee — cosponsor (person)
• William R. Outten — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

• 2017-01-24 Introduced and Assigned to House Administration Committee in House introduction, referral-committee
• 2017-03-15 Reported Out of Committee (House Administration) in House with 4 On Its Merits committee-passage
• 2017-03-21 Amendment HA 1 to HB 47 - Introduced and Placed With Bill amendment-introduction
• 2017-03-21 Amendment HA 1 to HB 47 - Passed In House by Voice Vote amendment-passage
• 2017-03-21 Amendment HA 2 to HB 47 - Introduced and Placed With Bill amendment-introduction
• 2017-03-21 Amendment HA 2 to HB 47 - Passed In House by Voice Vote amendment-passage
• 2017-03-21 Passed By House. Votes: 37 YES 1 NOT VOTING 3 ABSENT passage
• 2017-03-21 Assigned to Elections & Government Affairs Committee in Senate introduction, referral-committee
• 2017-04-26 Reported Out of Committee (Elections & Government Affairs) in Senate with 5 On Its Merits committee-passage
• 2017-06-21 Amendment SA 1 to HB 47 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 19 YES 2 ABSENT amendment-passage
• 2017-06-21 Passed By Senate. Votes: 19 YES 2 ABSENT passage
• 2017-06-22 Passed By House. Votes: 39 YES 2 ABSENT passage
• 2017-07-28 Signed by Governor executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/a3f11567-9816-4af6-99fe-704cccebcd17. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Delaware legislature records).