Early voting continues to rise in Delaware, voters say what's driving them

Early voting is in full swing in Delaware, and voter turnout is already well above the entire 2022 early voting period.

In 2022, about 55,500 people voted early within 10 days. As of Monday, over 106,000 people had already voted early, with six days to go.

Sussex County saw the highest early voting turnout, with nearly 55,000 people casting their ballots as of Tuesday. New Castle County has the second-highest voter turnout after Sussex, with nearly 33,000 ballots cast in the first five days.

Early voters leaving the Appoquinimink State Service Center in Middletown waited an average of one hour and 15 minutes Tuesday to cast their votes in the general election.

Tim and Diane Denbleyker, retirees from Middletown, say this year's presidential election caught their attention, with border security and inflation driving their decision to vote straight Republican.

“There are far too many people here living paycheck to paycheck. And even us – we don't have a problem, thank God – but I see our bill going up for nothing. “We do a few things and it costs $125,” Diane said.

But for Danielle Cinderella of Townsend, her young children and protecting women's reproductive rights stand behind her vote.

“The fact that I'm a woman of childbearing age – I have friends, family too, and I want my voice to count,” she said.

Several residents cited the presidential election as their primary reason for voting, but Middletown resident Sissie Shook expressed dissatisfaction with the campaign's slander at the local and national levels.

She finds attack emails and television ads very misleading this year and believes money plays too big a role in the candidacy.

“(I) am just tired of the whole thing. People shouldn't lie – just give us the facts. I'm for it – one says so and the other says he's against it. So you don't know who to believe. So I think you’re not getting as much accurate information as I would like anyway,” Shook said.

She says she's appalled that Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk is hosting a $1 million donation to Pennsylvania voters who sign a petition supporting constitutional freedoms.

Musk – a public supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump – is being sued by the Philadelphia district attorney over the stunt.

“Send it to the people in the South who lost everything,” Shook said, referring to those affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. “What is wrong with our world that we have to buy our politicians?”

Some voters still remember the contentious Democratic gubernatorial primary, which resulted in an unprecedented number of attack emails and television ads against candidate Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, who violated several campaign finance laws during her campaign.

New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer ultimately won the Democratic nomination for governor with 47% of the vote and will now face Republican Rep. Mike Ramone in the general election.

Cabot Wright of Middletown says he and his wife voted for Hall-Long in the primary but now feel comfortable casting their vote for Meyer.

“We agree with that. I’ve also read some of the things he was for, so it sounds good,” Wright said.

Wright was among several voters who said they decided to vote early to avoid the Election Day rush.

“(We're here) to make sure we get our vote and don't have to worry about it on Election Day because I'm not sure what that's going to be like, but we thought we'd try to get early voting. “In,” he said.

After voting Tuesday, George, of Middletown, said when he saw reports about how long early voting lines had already been, he assumed they would only continue to grow.

“It took about an hour and 20 minutes, so I can only imagine what it will be like on election day, and voting is an important responsibility in a democratic system,” he said.

George, like other voters, noted that inflation is top of mind for him this election season.

“Especially for Delaware, I think it’s definitely the economics – being a senior is definitely at the top of the list. I think the border is another important issue, but it's about how we treat people and recognize what America is really about.”

Early voting continues Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and then extended through Nov. 3 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Early voting locations and general election polling locations can be found on the Delaware Department of Elections website here.

You can also use this tool to find out which district you are in.