Delaware Statutes § 3402 Write-in candidates for a general election
Statute Text
(a)
Superior Court shall only count a write-in vote for a person who has declared himself or herself a write-in candidate for the office for which that person was written-in in accordance with this chapter. Superior Court shall count a write-in vote for a candidate on a general or special election ballot if the write-in vote is for the office for which the person is a candidate.
(b)
Superior Court shall account for write-in votes cast for other than declared write-in candidates as "Other Write-in Votes."
(c)
A person shall declare
[himself or herself]
as
a write-in candidate for an office by filing a Write-in Candidate Declaration with the State Election Commissioner for a statewide office or
[to]
the Department
[of Elections]
office
for the county in which the election is to be held for General Assembly,
[county]
county,
or City of Wilmington offices no later than 4:30 p.m. on September
[30]
20
in the year of a general election. If September
[30]
20
is a Saturday,
[Sunday]
Sunday,
or holiday, the declaration
[shall]
must
be filed no later than 4:30 p.m. on the next day that is not a Saturday,
[Sunday]
Sunday,
or holiday. If the boundary of a General Assembly office includes more than 1 county, the person shall file that person's Write-in Candidate Declaration with the Department
[of Elections]
office
for the county in which that person is a registered voter.
(d)
The State Election Commissioner or
[the Department of Elections for a county]
Department office for the county in which a person who has filed a Write-in Candidate Declaration is a registered voter
shall determine whether
[a]
the
person
[who has filed a Write-in Candidate Declaration]
is eligible to be a candidate for the office for which
[that]
the
person has filed the
[declaration.]
Declaration.
(e)
A person shall not declare himself or herself a write-in candidate if that person is a candidate on the general election ballot.
(f)
A person shall not declare himself or herself a write-in candidate for more than one office. The filing of a declaration for another office prior to the declaration deadline established in this chapter shall make any previous declaration null and void.
(g)
Once a person has withdrawn as a candidate or write-in candidate for an office, that person shall not declare himself or herself a write-in candidate for the same office in the same year.
(h)
A declared write-in candidate shall comply with the requirements in Chapter 80 of this title.
(i)
A declared write-in candidate may withdraw that candidate's candidacy by filing a withdrawal form with the office at which that candidate filed the candidate's Write-in Candidate Declaration no later than 15 days prior to the date of the election.
(j)
A write-in candidate for statewide office, the General Assembly, or any elected county office must request a criminal history background check no earlier than 90 days before the candidate filing deadline and no later than the filing deadline from the State Bureau of Identification and provide proof that the criminal history background check has been requested before filing a write-in Candidate Declaration as required under subsection (c) of this section.
(1)
A write-in candidate who files a declaration under subsection (c) of this section will be considered a provisional candidate for election until the Commissioner has made the determination that the candidate is qualified under paragraph (j)(5) of this section.
(2)
The State Bureau of Identification must provide, within 10 days of the State Bureau of Identification's receipt of the candidate's request, a report of the candidate's criminal history record or a statement that the State Bureau of Identification's Repository contains no information relating to the candidate.
(3)
The information received by the Commissioner from the State Bureau of Identification under this section is not a public record as defined under Chapter 100 of Title 29.
(4)
The criminal history background check must be paid by the candidate but may be reimbursed to the candidate as an authorized campaign expenditure under this title.
(5)
The Commissioner must determine no later than 4 weeks prior to the general election that a candidate is qualified under Section 21 of Article II of the Delaware Constitution before a write-in candidate's name may be listed on any general election ballot.
History
Amended by Laws 2023 , ch. 185 , s 6 , eff. 1/1/2024 .
Amended by Laws 2019 , ch. 170 , s 11 , eff. 7/30/2019 .
76 Del. Laws, c. 315 , § 1 ; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186 , § 1 ; 77 Del. Laws, c. 227 , § 2 .;
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