Delaware Create Residency Requirement for State Legislators Amendment (2023)
| Delaware Create Residency Requirement for State Legislators Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ratification date April 6, 2023 | |
| Topic State legislative elections | |
| Sponsor State Rep. Paul Baumbach (D-23) |
The Delaware Create Residency Requirement for State Legislators Amendment was approved by the Delaware General Assembly and added to the Delaware Constitution on April 6, 2023.
The amendment created a residency requirement for state senators and state legislators that lasts for the entirety of their term of office.
Overview
What did this constitutional amendment do?
- See also: Text of measure
The constitutional amendment requires state legislators to reside in the boundaries of their legislative district.[1] It specifies that if a state legislator moves outside of their legislative boundaries during their term of office, they are considered to have resigned their legislative office. The amendment contains an exception for state legislators who change their residence to run for re-election in their legislative district after a redistricting process changed their district's geographic boundaries.
Who supported this constitutional amendment?
State Rep. Paul Baumbach (D-23) introduced two identical versions of the constitutional amendment to the Delaware General Assembly for their consideration. The legislature approved both versions of the amendment with a Bipartisan Partisan Directional Index.
Text of measure
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article II, Delaware Constitution
The amendment changed Section 3 of Article II of the Delaware Constitution. The following underlined text was added and struck-through text was deleted:[1]
Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.
§ 3. Qualifications of members.
Section 3. (a) No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained the age of twenty-seven years and have been a citizen and inhabitant of the State three years next preceding the day of his or her election and the last year of that term an inhabitant of the Senatorial District in which he or she shall be chosen, unless he or she shall have been absent on the public business of the United States or of this State. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained the age of twenty-four years, and have been a citizen and inhabitant of the State three years next preceding the day of his or her election, and the last year of that term an inhabitant of the Representative District in which he or she shall be chosen, unless he or she shall have been absent on the public business of the United States or of this State.
(b) A Senator shall continuously reside in the Senatorial District in which the Senator was chosen during the Senator’s term of office. A Representative shall continuously reside in the Representative District in which the Representative was chosen during the Representative’s term of office. A Senator or Representative who does not continuously reside in the District in which the Senator or Representative was chosen is deemed to have resigned the office.
(c) If, as a result of legislative redistricting, a sitting Senator or Representative is required to change the Senator’s or Representative’s residence in order to maintain residency in the district in which the Senator or Representative represent, subsection (b) of this section does not apply.
(d) If, by reason of an event that can be neither anticipated nor controlled, a Senator or Representative is unable to continue to maintain residency in their district, subsection (b) does not apply.[2]
Full text
The full text of the measure can be found here.
Amending the Delaware Constitution
The Delaware General Assembly has the sole and complete authority to amend the state constitution. Unlike in any other state, the state legislature can amend the constitution without a vote of the people. For the legislature to amend the constitution:
- two-thirds of all the members elected to each chamber must vote in favor of a proposed amendment;
- the Delaware Secretary of State must then publish the proposed amendment three months prior to the next general election in at least three newspapers in each county; and
- the subsequent General Assembly then votes again on the proposed amendment(s) and if an amendment receives two-thirds majority approval of all members of each chamber, it becomes part of the constitution.
The amendment in the Delaware General Assembly
House Bill 77 (2023)
State Rep. Paul Baumbach (D-23) introduced the amendment to the state legislature on March 7, 2023. The state House passed the amendment on March 16 in a vote of 39-0, with two representatives not voting. On April 6, the state Senate passed the amendment in a vote of 20-0, with one senator not voting.[3]
| Votes Required to Pass: 28 | |||
| Yes | No | NV | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 39 | 0 | 2 |
| Total % | 95.1% | 0.0% | 4.9% |
| Democratic (D) | 24 | 0 | 2 |
| Republican (R) | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Votes Required to Pass: 14 | |||
| Yes | No | NV | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 20 | 0 | 1 |
| Total % | 95.2% | 0.0% | 4.8% |
| Democratic (D) | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican (R) | 5 | 0 | 1 |
House Bill 395 (2022)
On April 28, 2022, state Rep. Paul Baumbach (D-23) introduced the amendment to the state legislature as House Bill 395. On June 9, the state House passed the amendment in a vote of 40-0, with one representative not voting. On June 30, the state Senate passed the amendment in a vote of 21-0.[4]
| Votes Required to Pass: 28 | |||
| Yes | No | NV | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 40 | 0 | 1 |
| Total % | 97.6% | 0.0% | 2.4% |
| Democratic (D) | 26 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican (R) | 14 | 0 | 1 |
| Votes Required to Pass: 14 | |||
| Yes | No | NV | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 21 | 0 | 0 |
| Total % | 100.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Democratic (D) | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican (R) | 7 | 0 | 0 |
See also
- The Delaware Constitution
- Amending the Delaware Constitution
- State constitutional conventions
- Other constitutional amendments concerning state legislative elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Delaware State Legislature, "House Bill 77," accessed October 3, 2025
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
- ↑ Delaware General Assembly, "House Bill 77," accessed October 3, 2025
- ↑ Delaware General Assembly, "House Bill 395," accessed October 3, 2025
