CHAPTER 4 - GENERAL ELECTIONS - CERTIFICATES OF NOMINATIONS; BALLOTS
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 60 OF THE REVISED CODE OF DELAWARE 1935, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO GENERAL ELECTIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
SECTION 1. That Chapter 60 of the Revised Code of Delaware 1935, as amended, be and the same is hereby further amended by striking out and repealing all of paragraph 1812. Sec. 3. thereof and by enacting and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
Certificates of nominations herein directed to be filed with the Secretary of State, or the Clerks of the Peace, as the case may be, shall be filed before six o'clock P. M. (Eastern Standard Time) on or before the first day of September of the year of any general election, and if said first day of September is a Sunday or a legal holiday, then on the next day; and if said next day shall be a holiday, then on the succeeding day.
The Secretary of State, and the Clerks of the Peace, shall cause to be preserved in their respective offices all certificates of nomination filed under the provisions of this Chapter for six months after the date of filing thereof.
SECTION 2. That Chapter 60 of the Revised Code of Delaware 1935, as amended, be and the same is hereby further amended by striking out and repealing all of the first and second paragraphs of 1817. Sec. 8. thereof and by enacting and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
The Clerk of the Peace in each County shall cause to be printed, within the State of Delaware, in the forms hereinbefore provided, five ballots of each official ballot for every voter in each Election District in his County; the number of voters shall be ascertained in each Election District by reference to the highest number of votes polled therein at any preceding election, with due allowance for any estimated increase thereof. If a new Election District has been established in his County, the number shall be estimated by said Clerk of the Peace according to the best information he can obtain.
It shall be the duty of the Clerk of the Peace in each County, in addition to the above mentioned ballots, to have printed and available for use and distribution, the ballots, envelopes and instructions to absentee voters, authorized by the provisions of the absentee voting law or laws of this State, as soon as possible after the final date of the filing of nominations but in any event forty-five days prior to the date of the ensuing general election. The quantity thereof shall not exceed two times the estimated number of absentee voters eligible to vote at the ensuing general election, as shall be estimated by said Clerk of the Peace according to the best information he can obtain.
The Clerk of the Peace in each County, in addition to the above mentioned ballots, shall cause to be printed such further number of ballots as shall be directed by the Chairman of Any committee of any political party, in any county, provided, however, that the said Clerk of the Peace shall not have printed any ballots upon the order or request of any Chairman of any political party unless the said request shall have been made to him in writing at least sixty-five days prior to the holding of the election at which the said ballots are to be used, nor unless a deposit sufficient to cover the cost of the ballots be made at the time they are ordered. The ballots so ordered by the said Chairmen of the various political parties shall be delivered to the said Chairmen or to their agents upon their request or order not more than ten days and not less than five days before the election at which the said ballots are to be used.
SECTION 3. That Chapter 60 of the Revised Code of Delaware 1935, as amended, be and the same is hereby further amended by striking out and repealing the fourth paragraph of 1814. Sec. 5. thereof and also all of the fifth paragraph of 1814. Sec. 5. thereof immediately preceding the ruled portion of the plan for the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Ballot, and by enacting and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
The Clerk of the Peace in each County shall cause the correct Representative District number to be plainly printed on the margin at the top of the official State, County and District Ballots, but not on the Official Presidential and Vice-Presidential Ballots, as nearly as possible in the following form:
"OFFICIAL BALLOT FOR REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT
NUMBER ________
The Clerk of the Peace in each County shall cause the words "Official Presidential and Vice-Presidential Ballot" to be plainly printed on the margin at the top of the "Presidential and Vice-presidential Ballot", and without any number of a Representative District, and immediately under the words "Official Presidential and Vice-Presidential Ballot", the Clerk of the Peace in each County shall cause the words "A Vote for the Candidates for President and Vice-President shall be a Vote for the Electors of such Party, the Names of whom are on file with the Secretary of State" to be plainly printed on the said "Official Presidential and Vice-Presidential Ballot". The "Official Presidential and Vice-Presidential Ballot" shall in general conform, as nearly as possible, to the following plan:
OFFICIAL PRESIDENTIAL AND VICE-PRESIDENTIAL BALLOT
A vote for the candidates for President and Vice-President shall be a vote for the electors of such party, the names of whom are on file with the Secretary of State.
(Followed by ruled plan set forth in Chapter 119 Volume 44 Laws of Delaware, page 407).
Approved March 24, 1944.