Confirmed: Green Card Holder Was Registered to Vote in Delaware

January 13, 2026

Rep. Bryan Shup, District 36

Posted on Mr 302 Bryan Shupe

A follow up on the U.S. green card holder who recently reached out to me.

This resident knows that she is a U.S. green card holder and not a U.S. citizen. After raising concerns about why she had been automatically registered to vote, the Department of Elections sent her a follow up letter.

The letter states that the Department has been informed that she may not be a U.S. citizen and that if that were true, she would not be eligible to be a registered voter. The letter also states that the Department is aware she was recently registered to vote through Delaware’s Automatic Voter Registration program based on information on file with the Division of Motor Vehicles.

Here is the problem.

Although the information exists showing that she is a green card holder, the Department does not acknowledge that status in the letter. Instead, the burden is placed entirely on the individual to correct the record.

I have urged her to request the electronic record from the Division of Motor Vehicles. That record will show one of two things. Either it will show that she is a U.S. green card holder and was automatically registered anyway, or it will show that the system reflects her as a U.S. citizen, which would indicate where the mistake in the system occurred.

The letter goes on to say that it is the responsibility of a person who is not a U.S. citizen to understand election law, to request removal from the voter registration list, and to contact the Division of Motor Vehicles to correct the record.

That is another flaw in the system.

This Automatic Voter Registration program was created with the safeguard of electronic records specifically so this type of situation would not happen. If the records exist, they should be checked before someone is registered, not after.

That is why I am drafting legislation that requires the Department of Elections and the Division of Motor Vehicles to go back and review all electronic records from the start of the Automatic Voter Registration program until now.

Every individual registered through this process must be reviewed to ensure the system is following the letter of the law as passed by the General Assembly.

This is about accountability. It is about protecting legal residents from being placed in an impossible position. And it is about making sure Delaware’s election laws are followed exactly as written.