Delaware elections office wins funding for warehouse expansion, presses for higher stipends and expanded voter outreach

State Treasurer Committee members heard Feb. 6 that the Delaware Department of Elections accepted the governor—s recommended budget and that the package includes money for a roughly 25% expansion of the New Castle County elections warehouse, a move the agency said will ease storage of new voting equipment and early-voting materials.

The department—s commissioner, identified in testimony as Commissioner Albin, told the Joint Finance Committee the expansion will free space the agency has filled over about 12 years as voting equipment, poll books and training centers have grown. "We're very excited that this year the expansion of the New Castle County warehouse was included, which was a significant need," Albin said.

The commissioner asked the committee to consider one item that was not recommended: an increase in the annual stipend paid to county boards of election. Albin said a previous increase implemented last year was less than $100 per board member and that county board members now do more work year-round for elections. "Our board members are doing more. They're meeting generally every month," Albin said, describing the request as recognition for added duties.

Why this matters: The warehouse expansion and outreach funding affect where and how Delaware stores equipment for elections and how the state reaches voters. Stipends and poll-worker pay relate to recruiting and retaining people who staff polling places and certify equipment.

Most important details

- Warehouse expansion: included in the governor—s recommended budget; commissioner said it equals about a 25% increase in capacity for New Castle County and will support equipment, poll books and a training center. The warehouse was described as filled after roughly 12 years of growth.

- Board stipends: the department requested a larger stipend for county boards of election; the increase was not recommended by the governor. Albin said last year—s increase was less than $100 and suggested a larger amount would recognize extra service.

- Poll workers and training: the department described improvements in poll-worker pay and training. Albin said higher pay led to full staffing in 2024, and the agency has expanded training materials, online videos and quizzes for poll workers.

- Outreach and marketing: the agency reported a large outreach operation last year, including 952,000 video ad deliveries, 790,000 mailed cards and more than 8 million total digital and impression ad deliveries; the department said vendors reported 92% of viewers watched the full video ads.

- Accessibility and disability outreach: the department said it has worked with Community Legal Aid and the Disabilities Law Program on accessible voting equipment and polling-place accessibility. Albin said the state revamped its website with a focus on accessibility and continues to improve polling-place signage and parking plans following the 2022 accessibility review.

- Voter registration and list maintenance: the office continues membership in ERIC (Electronic Registration Information Center), which the department said helps identify out-of-state moves and accelerate voter-list maintenance beyond the normal National Voter Registration Act cycles. The department reported about 15 monthly quality-control reports given to counties to clean records.

- Primary timing and military/overseas ballots: Commissioner Albin said Delaware—s primary is among the latest in the nation and that moving the primary earlier could save the state about $1.5 million in certain years (noted savings tied to earlier administration estimates) because of less compressed processing to meet UOCAVA timelines for military and overseas voters. She described the current schedule as creating a "crunch" to meet the 45-day UOCAVA requirement for overseas ballots.

What legislators asked

Several lawmakers pressed the commissioner on operational details and local impacts. Representative Hensley and Senator Lawson praised the department—s outreach but asked for concrete follow-ups: Lawson asked for clarification on outreach to seniors via DE28 and local channels; Representative Hensley suggested highlighting on mailed cards when a voter—s polling place has changed.

Representative Williams and others thanked the commissioner for work on a recent change in the voter notification card (House Bill 82) and for the department—s work on accessibility. Senator Buxton asked whether expanding vote centers would be possible with current technology; the commissioner said the equipment supports county-level vote-center operations but that states differ in whether they have adopted vote-center models.

Public comment and accessibility concerns

Public comments filed during the hearing included a written submission citing a 2024 report from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and Rutgers University that said voters with disabilities have higher rates of difficulties voting by mail or in person; the statement urged continued funding for accessibility improvements. In-person commenters also urged synchronizing school-board elections with regular election days.

What the agency will do next

Albin said the department plans to fill one vacant full-time position before June 30 and continue to expand training, accessibility work and targeted outreach for upcoming special elections. The department also said it will continue partnering with GIC on GIS-based voter-lookup and with vendors on targeted marketing and mailed materials.

Ending

The Department of Elections said it accepts most of the governor—s recommended budget and emphasized that the warehouse expansion, outreach funding and accessibility work are priorities. Lawmakers signaled interest in further detail on stipend history, polling-place notices and options for additional early-voting locations.