Between 1850 and 2025, Delaware voters decided on five ballot measures—the fewest of any state. Of those, three were approved, and two were defeated.
The Delaware General Assembly has voted to refer four ballot measures to the state ballot between 1850 and 2025. The fifth measure was referred to the ballot by a constitutional convention.
Three of the four measures (75%) referred by the general assembly were approved; the measure referred by the constitutional convention was defeated.
Delaware is the only state that does not require voter approval for state constitutional amendments.
The inventory of Delaware statewide ballot measures is part of Ballotpedia's Historical Ballot Measure Factbooks, which document nearly 200 years of direct democracy in the United States. This ongoing research effort will provide an unparalleled resource for researchers, reporters, and voters on how ballot measures have evolved, the issues they've covered, and the role they have played in our civic life.
This section provides a table to search Delaware historical ballot measures by decade and keyword.
This section summarizes notable topics voters have decided on.
This section highlights measures with the closest and widest margins, as well as the breakdown by topic, decade, and type.
This section describes the process of placing a statewide measure on the ballot.
Ballotpedia completed an inventory of Delaware ballot measures from 1850 to 2025. Delaware voters have decided on five measures that were placed on the ballot by the Delaware General Assembly. The types of measures included legislatively referred advisory questions, a legislatively referred constitutional convention question, and a constitutional convention referral. Three measures were approved (60%), and two were defeated (40%).
The inventory of Delaware statewide ballot measures is part of Ballotpedia's Historical Ballot Measure Factbooks, which document nearly 200 years of direct democracy in the United States. This ongoing research effort will provide an unparalleled resource for researchers, reporters, and voters on how ballot measures have evolved, the issues they've covered, and the role they have played in our civic life.
List of ballot measures
Five measures have appeared on the Delaware ballot between 1850 and 2025:
- Constitutional Convention Question (1851): The question allowed the Delaware General Assembly to call a state constitutional convention. Voters approved the measure, with 73.0% voting yes. After the measure was passed, the general assembly passed legislation for a state constitutional convention on February 4, 1852. The convention convened on December 7, 1852.
- Constitution of 1853 Ratification Measure: The measure would have ratified the new state constitution proposed by the constitutional convention. Voters defeated the measure; 63.8% voted against ratifying the constitution.
- Initiative and Referendum Advisory Question (1906): The question directed the Delaware General Assembly to pass legislation that would create an advisory initiative and referendum process. The question passed; 88.9% of voters approved the measure. However, the question was non-binding, and the general assembly elected not to create an initiative and referendum process.
- Slot Machines Advisory Question (1976): The measure would have advised the general assembly to pass legislation that would permit the use of state-regulated slot machines. The measure was defeated; 56.5% of voters rejected the question.
- Charitable Gambling Advisory Question (1984): The question advised the general assembly to pass legislation to allow the state to license certain companies to conduct lotteries. The list of permitted organizations included fire, veteran, charitable, religious, and fraternal organizations. Voters approved the measure; 73.5% voted yes. The election was held in four regions in the state, and each voter was asked about the licensing of lotteries in the region where they resided.
Statistics
Approval margins
Of the five ballot measures, all were decided by a margin of more than 10 percentage points. The Initiative and Referendum Advisory Question was decided by the widest margin, with 88.9% of voters approving the measure. The Slot Machines Advisory Question was decided by the smallest margin, with 56.5% voting no.
The vote margins for each of the five measures are below:
| Vote margins for Delaware statewide ballot measures, 1850-2025 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measure | Year | Yes votes | No votes | Vote margin | Outcome | ||
| # | % | # | % | ||||
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Delaware ballot measure topics
Delaware ballot measures have addressed four unique topics. The topics addressed are:
- Gambling policy (2 measures)
- Initiative and referendum process (1 measure)
- State constitution ratification (1 measure)
- State constitutional conventions (1 measure)
By the decade
The five ballot measures in Delaware were on the ballot in four different decades. The 1850s saw two measures on the ballot, more than any other decade.
By type
- See also: Types of ballot measures in Delaware
There are three different types of ballot measures in Delaware, and all have appeared on the ballot between 1850 and 2025. Legislatively referred advisory questions have appeared on the ballot more than any other type (3).
Background
Citizen-initiated ballot measures
In Delaware, citizens do not have the power to initiate constitutional amendments, veto referendums, or state statutes. In 1906, 88.9% of voters approved an advisory question to direct the Delaware General Assembly to pass legislation that would create an advisory initiative and referendum process. However, the question was non-binding, and the general assembly elected not to create an initiative and referendum process.
Legislatively referred ballot measures
In Delaware, the general assembly has the power to place advisory questions and constitutional convention proposals on the ballot.
Advisory questions
- See also: Advisory question
A simple majority vote is required during one legislative session for the Delaware General Assembly to place a non-binding advisory question on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 21 votes in the Delaware House of Representatives and 11 votes in the Delaware State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Questions require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
The Delaware General Assembly has referred a non-binding question to the ballot on at least two occasions. First, a question asking whether slot machines should be legalized in 1976. Second, a question asking whether charitable organizations should be allowed to conduct lotteries.
Constitutional convention questions
- See also: State constitutional conventions
According to Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution, the Delaware General Assembly can refer constitutional amendments to the ballot.
A two-thirds majority vote is required during one legislative session for the Delaware General Assembly to place a constitutional convention question on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 28 votes in the Delaware House of Representatives and 14 votes in the Delaware State Senate, assuming no vacancies.
