Your Vote Is Your Right — And Your Power. Use It.
Every election, someone tells you your vote doesn’t matter. They are wrong, and history proves it.
A Right Paid For in Blood
The right to vote was not handed to us. It was fought for, marched for, and paid for — with blood, with sweat, and with the lives of people who believed future generations deserved a voice in their own government. Here in Sussex County, and across Delaware, African Americans and other minorities could not reliably or safely exercise that right until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed the poll taxes, literacy tests, and intimidation tactics used for a century to keep them from the ballot box. That fight happened in our lifetime, in our communities, to people whose descendants are our neighbors today. We do not get to treat that inheritance carelessly.
42%. That’s Not Good Enough.
In the 2022 midterms, only about 42% of Delaware’s eligible voters cast a ballot. That means more than half of us sat out an election that decided who represents us, who funds our schools, and who writes the laws that shape our daily lives. With so much at stake this year — no matter your political preferences — we all have to do better. Every seat, every school board, every ballot question is decided by the people who show up. If you sit it out, you are letting someone else decide for you.
A Plea: Vote Early
Don’t wait for November 3. We are asking you, directly and urgently: vote early. Early voting means one less thing standing between you and your voice being counted — no worrying about a Tuesday work shift, a doctor’s appointment, a sick child, bad weather, or a line that wraps around the building on Election Day. It means that if something goes wrong — a name spelled differently, an address that needs updating — you still have time to fix it before the polls close for good. Early voting sites across Sussex County open October 22 and run through November 1. There is no reason to wait, and every reason not to. Make a plan this week: pick a day, pick a site, and go — and take someone with you.
Key Dates You Need to Know
- Voter registration deadline: Friday, October 10, 2026 (must be submitted by end of day). Overseas and uniformed service voters have until October 19.
- Early voting: October 22–24, October 26–27, and October 28–November 1, 2026 (no early voting on October 25). Hours vary by day — 7 a.m.–7 p.m. or 11 a.m.–7 p.m.
- Absentee/mail ballot request deadline: Friday, October 30, 2026.
- Absentee ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
- Election Day: Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
Vote Early — Sussex County Locations
Registered Sussex County voters can cast a ballot at any of these early voting sites during the early voting window:
- Department of Elections Warehouse — 542 S. Bedford St., Georgetown
- Department of Elections Warehouse — 200 Allen St., Seaford (Allen St. is closed — access via Dulaney St. off Stein Hwy.)
- Ellendale Fire Hall — 302 Main St., Ellendale
- Indian River Fire Company, Station #2 — 25375 Banks Rd., Millsboro
- Laurel Fire Hall — 205 W. 10th St., Laurel
- Margaret Rollins Community Center — 101 Adams Ave., Lewes
- Millville Community Center — 32517 Dukes Dr., Millville
- Nassau Valley Vineyard — 32130 Winery Rd., Lewes
- Roxana Fire Hall — 35943 Zion Church Rd., Frankford
How to Register or Request a Ballot
Register online at ivote.de.gov, in person at any Department of Elections office or DMV, or by mail. To vote absentee, apply through the same iVote portal or the paper application mailed to your county office. Questions? Sussex County Department of Elections: (302) 856-5367 or votesc@delaware.gov.
This Is a Community Effort
Increasing turnout in Sussex County is not something any one of us can do alone — it is work we have to do together. Share this article. Send it to your friends, your family, your book club, your church, your barbershop, your card game. Bring voting up in conversation everywhere you gather: in your clubs, in your pews, at your kitchen table. Ask your neighbors if they’re registered. Ask if they have a plan to vote. If you know an elderly or disabled neighbor who has trouble getting to the polls, offer them a ride — that one gesture can be the difference between a vote cast and a voice lost. Our goal for 2026 should not be modest: let’s make sure the majority of Sussex County actually votes this year. That starts with each of us doing our part, and it finishes with all of us showing up together.
The Bottom Line
Our ancestors did not survive Jim Crow, march past dogs and fire hoses, and bleed on courthouse steps so that we could shrug and stay home. Vote early. Vote informed. Vote because it is yours — earned, not given. Register by October 10. Show up. Bring a neighbor.
