New Polling Reveals Delawareans Want Greater Police Transparency and More Accessible Voting Options

Statewide, DE — Recent polling from the ACLU of Delaware shows that the majority of Delawareans want greater police transparency, restricted cooperation between law enforcement and ICE, and more accessible voting options. Among the key issues in the upcoming 2026 Primary Election, Delawareans are highly concerned about:

• How law enforcement agencies make body-worn camera footage available to the public;

• How state law enforcement collects and uses peoples’ data;

• How state law enforcement interacts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); and

• How accessible the ballot box is for registered voters.

Partnering with Survey 160 in July 2026, the ACLU-DE surveyed over 600 voters from across the state on fifteen different policy statements related to policing and surveillance, immigration enforcement, voting and elections, marriage, and public education.

The results of this recent polling show that the majority of Delawareans believe voting is a right that should be reserved for people and not corporations (84%), that Delaware should make same-day voter registration (61%) and no-fault absentee voting (66%) options available to all eligible voters, and that people’s right to vote should be reinstated as soon as they leave prison after a criminal conviction (60%).

When presented with statements about law enforcement’s involvement with ICE operations, the majority of Delawareans agree that there should be stricter guidelines for police assistance to ICE (61%), that police should verify a judge-signed warrant before assisting ICE (64%), that police should only detain someone on behalf of ICE if they have a criminal warrant (62%), and that police should not help ICE with civil enforcement (57%).

On statements related to police transparency and reincarceration, Delawareans agree that police should be barred from purchasing private data without a warrant (81%), that police body-camera footage should be made public (81%), and that reincarceration should be limited to cases involving the commitment of a new crime, and not an outcome of mere technical violations (53%).

“Civil liberties are on the ballot, and Delaware voters broadly support many important priorities,” said Mike Brickner, executive director of the ACLU-DE. “As voters head to the ballot box, we hope they vote their values and then help us to hold their newly elected officials accountable to delivering these changes for the people of Delaware.”

Visit the document below to read the full statements presented to participants in this study, see the results of additional question topics not mentioned here, and see a breakdown of the raw numbers.