Delaware Statutes § 5613A Carrier envelope specifications; carrier envelopes as ballot boxes

Statute Text

(a) The Department shall purchase envelopes to be used as carrier envelopes which must be all of the following:

(1) Designed to securely protect the contents from tampering, removal, or substitution without detection.

(2) Large enough to accommodate multiple mail ballots cast in the election.

(b) For all purposes of this title, carrier envelopes are considered the official ballot boxes for mail votes cast during a given election and must meet all of the following requirements:

(1) Contain voted mail ballots from a single election district.

(2) Be labeled to reflect the election district whose mail ballots are held inside.

(3) Ensure the security of the ballots in the event they must be moved for the purposes of certifying an election or recounting votes cast in an election.

(c) A sealed carrier envelope may be reopened only when necessary to certify an election or recount votes cast in an election.

(d) In the event the Department must move mail ballots for the purposes of certifying an election, or recounting votes cast in an election, it shall select the carrier envelopes for the affected election districts and move them, in a secure fashion, to the location where the carrier envelopes will be opened and the votes inside inspected.

(e) Upon completion of any inspection of votes under this section, mail ballots must be returned to the carrier envelopes from which they were removed and all of the following must be done with the carrier envelopes:

(1) Resealed in a secure manner, or be placed in another security envelope, for the purposes of securely protecting the contents thereof from tampering, removal, or substitution without detection.

(2) Placed in a secure location and held there until such time as it is destroyed or moved for further legal process.

History

Added by Laws 2021 , ch. 353 , s 1 , eff. 7/22/2022 .