Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 3002 – Unaffiliated candidates
(a) No person shall qualify to appear on the general election ballot of this State as a candidate unaffiliated with a political party unless such person fulfills the requirements of this chapter and is so certified by the State Election Commissioner, if a statewide candidate, or the Department office for the county where the candidate resides, if not a statewide candidate.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 3002
- Ballot: means those portions of cardboard, paper or other material to be placed within the ballot frames of a voting machine or to be used for absentee voting in order to list the names of the offices to be voted for, the name of each candidate and the designation of the party by which the candidate is nominated, a space for the voter to write in the name of any candidate of that voter's choice for any office, and the statement of any question submitted with provision for a "yes" or "no" vote. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- Department: means the State Department of Elections, consisting of the State Board of Elections and such staff as the Board shall appoint under this title, but shall not include the State Election Commissioner. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- Forgery: The fraudulent signing or alteration of another's name to an instrument such as a deed, mortgage, or check. The intent of the forgery is to deceive or defraud. Source: OCC
- political party: means any political organization which elects a state committee and officers of a state committee, by a state convention composed of delegates elected from each representative district in which the party has registered members, and which nominates candidates for electors of President and Vice-President, or nominates candidates for offices to be decided at the general election. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- Registration record: means a voter's registration record maintained in the State's Election Management System, the list or file of registered voters sent to each election district for use by election officers on the day of the election, and until determined obsolete, it also applies to a voter's record maintained in the county master file. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- Signature: means both a written signature conforming to § 302(23) of Title 1 and a digital or electronic signature that is an electronic sound, symbol or process attached to or logically associated with a document and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the document as specified by the State Election Commissioner. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
- Unaffiliated candidate: means any individual who files a declaration as a candidate for any office to be decided at the general election and who is not affiliated with any political party and has not been thus affiliated for at least 3 months prior to the filing of that individual's declaration. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- Year: means a calendar year, and is equivalent to the words "year of our Lord. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
(b) A candidate may not be listed as an unaffiliated candidate on any general election ballot unless the candidate files, on forms promulgated by the State Election Commissioner, on or before the close of the official business day on September 1 of the general election year, a sworn declaration with the State Election Commissioner, if a statewide candidate, or the Department office for the county where the candidate resides, if a nonstatewide candidate, stating that the candidate has not been affiliated with any political party for at least 90 days before the filing of the declaration, as required by this title. By September 1 of a general election year, the candidate shall file nominating petitions, as prescribed in this chapter, signed by not less than 1% of the total number of voters registered, as of December 31 of the year immediately preceding the general election year in the State, or if a nonstatewide candidate, of those voters registered to vote for that office which such individual seeks. To be removed from a general election ballot, the candidate must withdraw the nominating petitions on or before 4:30 p.m. on the first Friday after the certificate of nomination is submitted.
(c) The nominating petition shall contain such information and be on a form as prescribed by the State Election Commission. The following information shall, however, be contained in the petition:
(1) Name of the unaffiliated candidate and the office for which the candidate is filing;
(2) Signature, printed name, address at which registered, social security number and date on which signed by signer;
(3) A statement that the signer understands that by intentionally entering false information on the petition the signer may be subject to prosecution for perjury;
(4) A sworn notarized statement of the person circulating the petition that he or she witnessed the placing of each signature on the petition.
(d) Such petition shall be circulated and executed between January 1 and July 15 of the year in which the general election is held. Each registered voter signing shall do so upon a petition prepared for the county in which that registered voter is registered, and the petition shall be filed with the Department. The signatures and other information thereon shall be verified by the department receiving the petition.
(e) Signatures may be rejected for the following reasons:
(1) The signer was not a registered voter on the date the signer signed the petition;
(2) The signer’s place of residence or the signer’s Social Security number do not match those appearing in the permanent registration record;
(3) The signer did not list that signer’s own Social Security number;
(4) It appears that the signature is a forgery;
(5) The signer’s identity cannot be verified because the information and/or signature submitted is illegible, incomplete or obscured.
(f) Where a petition or a part thereof is rejected, the individual submitting same shall have the right to learn the reason or reasons for such rejection and an opportunity to examine the signatures rejected.
61 Del. Laws, c. 418, § ?7; 67 Del. Laws, c. 354, § ?20; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § ?1; 79 Del. Laws, c. 275, § ?49; 82 Del. Laws, c. 170, § 3; 83 Del. Laws, c. 210, § 4;