CHAPTER 141 - DEPARTMENT OF ELECTIONS--CITY OF WILMINGTON
AN ACT TO AMEND CERTAIN SECTIONS OF CHAPTER 57 OF THE REVISED CODE OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE, RELATING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ELECTIONS FOR THE CITY OF WILMINGTON.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
Section 1. That 1659. Section 2, Chapter 57 of the Revised Code of the State of Delaware be and the same is hereby repealed and a new Section substituted in lieu thereof as follows:
1659. Section 2. Appointment; Qualifications; Terms of Office; Not to Hold or Be Candidates for Office; Vacancies; Of Different Political Faith; Oath; Organization; Officers; Quorum; Rules; Compensation; When and How Paid:--Commencing with the month of August in the years 1909, 1911 and 1913, and on or before the tenth day thereof, and with the month of April in the years 1909 and 1913, and before the first day' thereof, and every sixth year thereafter, the Governor shall appoint one member of said Department of Elections for the City of Wilmington, for a term of six years. No person shall be eligible to appointment as a member of said Department of Elections who is not a citizen of the United States of America and resident in the said City for which he is appointed and who has not resided therein for a term of five years next preceding his appointment. No member of said Department shall hold or be a candidate for any elective office during his membership in said Department, nor until the expiration of six months after he shall have ceased to be a member of said Department. When any vacancy occurs in said Department from any cause whatsoever the Governor aforesaid shall fill the unexpired term by appointment, but at no time shall all the members of said Department be of the same political faith and opinion. Each of said members shall, before entering upon his duties and within one month of the time of his appointment, take and subscribe and file in the office of the Clerk of the Peace of New Castle County the oath or affirmation prescribed by the Constitution. Commencing on the first Tuesday of April, 1913, and biennially thereafter, the members of the said Department of Elections shall meet and organize said Department by electing one of their number to be President of the Department; and they shall also elect a Secretary. The term of office shall be two years from the date of such organization. Three members shall be sufficient for the purpose of organization and shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The said Department shall have power to make rules for its government not inconsistent with the Constitution and Laws of the State.
Each member of said Department of Elections shall receive as compensation for his services a salary of five hundred dollars per annum; the salary of the Secretary shall be fixed by the Department and shall not exceed three thousand dollars per annum. The salary of the members of the Department of Elections and the Secretary thereof shall be paid by the Levy Court of New Castle County in the same manner as County officers are paid; provided however, in every year in which a Municipal Election is held in the City of Wilmington, the salary of the members and the Secretary, shall be paid in the same manner as by law provided for the payment of other expenses of the said City of Wilmington.
Section 2. That 1663. Section 6, Chapter 57 of the Revised Code of the State of Delaware as amended be and the same is hereby further amended by striking out the first paragraph of said Section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
1663. Section 6. Division of City Into Election Districts; Number of Voters in District; Designation of Districts; Each Election District Within One Representative District; Registration of Voters in New Districts:--The Department of Elections shall, on or before the first day of June, in every year in which a general registration is held, divide the City into as many election districts as they may deem necessary and shall establish the boundaries thereof. Each election district shall contain as near as may be, not more than five hundred voters, nor less than one hundred voters. Each of said election districts shall be entirely within one representative district.
On or before the first day of June commencing with the year nineteen hundred and thirty-six and biennially thereafter, the said Department of Elections may divide such election districts, and such only as, by the election last preceding such division, shall be found to contain a greater number of voters than can conveniently vote therein. They shall also designate each election district by appropriate titles or distinctions.
Section 3. That 1664. Section 7, Chapter 57 of the Revised Code of the State of Delaware be and the same is hereby repealed and a new Section substituted in lieu thereof as follows:
1664. Section 7. In addition to a Secretary as provided in this Chapter, the said Department of Election may engage such other 'assistance as they shall deem necessary and shall prescribe their duties and fix their compensation; the expense of any and all assistance provided by authority of this Section shall not exceed two thousand five hundred dollars in any year; the expense of such assistance shall be paid by the Levy Court of New Castle County; provided however, that in any year in which a municipal election is held in the City of Wilmington, such expense shall be paid in the same manner as by law provided for the payment of other expenses of the said City of Wilmington.
Section 4. That 1674. Section 17, Chapter 57 of the 'Revised Code of the State of Delaware be and the same is hereby repealed and a new section substituted in lieu thereof as follows:
1674. Section 17. Record of Deaths; Made and Supplied to Registrars; Duty of Registrars in Relation Thereto:--Beginning with the year 1936 and every year thereafter, it shall be the duty of the Registrar of Vital Statistics for the City of Wilmington, to furnish to the Department of Elections, on or before the tenth day of January, April, July and October, a full, complete and accurate copy of the record of the name, residence and age of each person twenty-one years of age and upward, who has died in the City of Wilmington during the three calendar months then next preceding as the facts in respect to such deaths, shall be furnished to the said Registrar of Vital Statistics.
The Department of Elections shall keep, preserve and file all such copies of such records.
It shall be the duty of the Department of Elections in each year in which an election is held, to cause to be made and delivered to the registration officers in each and every election district in the City of Wilmington, oh or before the first day of registration in that year a record of all persons twenty-one years of age and upward who in the district in which the said registration officers are to serve, have died since the last day of registration. Such Record shall be known and designated as the Records of Deaths. It shall be the duty of the registration officers in each election district, upon the receipt of such record, to securely attach the same to the inside cover of the Register in his custody, to the end that it may be preserved; and each Registrar shall examine the Registers in his custody as to the name of every person upon said Registers who, by said Record of Deaths shall be a coincidence in respect to said name and facts appear to have deceased, and opposite to and against every such name to enter in the column headed "Disqualified" the word "Dead" and the month, day and year of such entry and in the column headed "Remarks" the words "Stricken from the Registers" adding against each such entry made in the Column of Remarks the initial letters of the name of the Registrar making such entry; and through the name of every such person stricken from the registers, and then only, shall draw a line indicative that such name is stricken from the registers of that election district.
Section 5. That if any of the provisions of this act should be found to be in conflict with any other law, or any other Act or Acts or part or parts of any other Act or Acts, not specifically repealed by this Act, in any and all such cases the provisions of this Act shall always be deemed and taken to be the law.
Approved March 11, 1935.