CHAPTER 33
LAUREL
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR A SPECIAL ELECTION TO BE HELD IN THE TOWN OF LAUREL FOR THE PURPOSE OF ELECTING A MAYOR AND CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TOWN.
WHEREAS, by the Charter of the Town of Laurel as enacted and established by Section 59 of Chapter 164, Volume 29, Laws of Delaware, the second Tuesday in March was designated as the day for the biennial Municipal Election for the election of a Mayor and members of the Council of the Town of Laurel; and
WHEREAS, it appears by Sections 2 and 3 of Chapter 65, Volume 47, Laws of Delaware, that the first Tuesday in March in the year 1951 has been designated as the day of the General Municipal Election; and
WHEREAS, through misunderstanding the general Municipal Election in the Town of Laurel for the year 1951 was not prepared for and held on the first Tuesday in March, and doubt and confusion have arisen as to the legality of a general Municipal Election to be held on the second Tuesday in March in 1951; NOW, THEREFORE,
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met (two-thirds of all the Members elected to each branch thereof concurring therein):
Section 1. That the terms of office of the Mayor of the Town of Laurel and of such members of the Council of the Town whose terms of office expire on the first day of April, 1951, as provided by Section 8 of Chapter 164, Volume 29, Laws of Delaware, and the term of office of the councilman-at-large expiring on the first Tuesday in March, 1951, as provided, by Section 3, Chapter 65, Volume 47, Laws of Delaware, are extended until their respective successors are duly elected, or appointed, qualified and installed in office as hereinafter provided; and Mayor and Council of Laurel as thus established shall have all the power and authority for the transaction of the municipal business and affairs as provided for in the Charter of the Town of Laurel and the several amendments thereto.
Section 2. That Mayor and Council of Laurel, as presently constituted, shall cause a special Municipal Election to be held in said Town on the first Tuesday in May, 1951, between the hours of twelve o'clock,noon and six o'clock in the afternoon, Eastern Standard Time or Eastern Daylight Time, whichever shall be in effect on the day of the Election, for the election of a Mayor and such members of the Council whose terms of office shall have expired on the first day of April, 1951, and on the first Tuesday in March, 1951, as aforesaid.
Notice of the Election shall be given in a newspaper published in the Town of Laurel in at least two consecutive issues, and by handbills posted at no less than ten public places in the Town of Laurel at least two weeks before the first Tuesday in May, 1951.
The notices shall contain the day on which the Election shall be held, the place of the Election, the hours of voting, the offices to be filled and the term of the respective offices, and such other information as may be deemed necessary or desirable.
The Election shall be held in accordance with the provisions of Section 59, Chapter 164, Volume 29, Laws of Delaware, except that the polls shall be open between the hours of twelve o'clock noon and six o'clock in the afternoon, when the same shall be closed.
Section 3. That every candidate for the office of Mayor, or someone on his behalf, shall at least ten days before the first Tuesday in May, 1951, file with the Town Clerk nomination papers for the office signed by at least thirty of the qualified voters of the Town, and no signature shall be counted as valid if it shall be upon the nomination papers of more than one candidate for the office; and in like manner, and subject to the same requirements, every candidate for the office of Council from a Ward of the Town, or someone on his behalf, shall at least ten days before the day of the Election as aforesaid, file with the Town Clerk nomination papers for said office signed by at least fifteen of the qualified voters of the respective Ward; or, if the candidate be for the office of councilman-at-large, the said papers shall be signed by at least twenty of the qualified voters of the Town of Laurel.
Section 4. That if more than one person residing in the same Ward of the Town shall become candidates for the office of councilman-at-large, the qualified voters of the Town shall be entitled to vote for only one of the candidates, so that no one Ward of the Town shall be represented by more than two councilmen as provided by Chapter 65, Volume 47, Laws of Delaware. The number or numbers of the Ward in which said candidates shall live shall be designated on the ballots, which shall contain a direction, plainly printed, to vote for one of the candidates only, and also a proper direction to indicate the choice of the voters. A ballot containing the names of more than one of said candidates as having been voted for said office shall not be counted for either of said candidates for councilman-at-large.
Section 5. A list of all persons whose personal or capitation taxes are unpaid shall be posted in the office of the Town Clerk fifteen days before the day of the Election to be held on the first Tuesday in May, 1951, and all persons against whom the said taxes have been levied and whose personal or capitation tax shall remain unpaid ten days before the day of the Election as aforesaid shall be ineligible to vote at said Election.
Section 6. Upon the closing of the polls the officers conducting the Election in conformity with the Charter of the Town of Laurel shall publicly count the ballots cast thereat, and each candidate who shall have received a plurality of the votes cast for the respective office shall be declared to be elected. A Certificate of Election duly signed by the officers conducting the Election shall be delivered to the Mayor and Council of Laurel to be entered in the official minutes of the corporation. The Certificate of Election shall state the name of the office and the expiration date which shall be on the first Tuesday in April of the proper year of termination.
Section 7. Persons elected to the office of Mayor and to the Council of the Town of Laurel at the said Special Election as provided for herein, shall assume their respective offices on the first Tuesday in June, 1951, at which time the Mayor and members of the Council shall organize.
Section 8. The provisions of this Act shall apply only to the Special Election provided for herein.
Section 9. Except as herein otherwise provided, all of the provisions of the Charter of the Town of Laurel and of the several amendments thereto shall remain in full force and effect, and all acts and transactions of Mayor and Council of Laurel heretofore done and performed, and to be done and performed until the organization of the Council on the first Tuesday in June, 1951, are hereby ratified and confirmed.
Approved April 13, 1951.