Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 304 – Lists and files of registered voters
(a) The State Election Commissioner shall deliver or cause to be delivered to each major political party in the State without charge the following:
(1) A file of all registered voters in the State once per month.
(2) A file of all registered voters in the State current as of the registration deadline before a primary or general election no later than 7 working days following the registration deadline for a primary or general election.
(3) Upon request, up to 8 copies of the list of registered voters for each election district in the State current as of the registration deadline before a primary or general election no later than 7 working days following the registration deadline for a primary or general election. These lists shall contain, as a minimum, the name, address, political party affiliation, and election district of each registered voter in each election district.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 304
- 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
- Election Management System: refers to the computer programs and databases managed by the State Election Commissioner and used by the State Election Commissioner and the Department of Elections to maintain voter registration records, to manage absentee voting, maintain election officer information, maintain polling place information, structure elections and for other purposes. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. Source: OCC
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Major political party: means any political party which, as of December 31 of the year immediately preceding any general election year, has registered in the name of that party voters equal to at least 5 percent of the total number of voters registered in the State. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- Minor political party: means any political party which does not qualify as a major political party. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- Month: means a calendar month, unless otherwise expressed. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
- 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
- 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
- State chair: means the highest executive officer of a political party of this State. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
(b) The state chair of each major political party, or county chairs if there is no state chair, may designate in writing other persons, not exceeding 2 in each county, to whom all or specified portions of the party’s lists are to be made available from the Commissioner.
(c) Upon request but no more than once per month, the State Election Commissioner shall provide without charge a file of all registered voters in the State to any minor political party eligible to place candidates on the ballot.
(d) The State Election Commissioner, in collaboration with the Department, shall prepare supplemental poll lists for each election district in the State that contain corrections and names of registered voters who have updated their registration records between the registration deadline and a date or dates selected by the Department. The Department shall make available 2 copies of the supplemental poll lists for the election districts within their jurisdiction to the principal political parties on the Saturday before a primary or general election.
(e) The State Election Commissioner shall, upon request, provide free of charge to any candidate for election who has qualified to appear on an upcoming primary or general election ballot a file and/or list of registered voters for the jurisdiction for which that person has qualified as a candidate.
(1) The request for a file and/or lists may be made by the candidate or by a member of the candidate’s committee listed on the appropriate form filed in accordance with Chapter 80 of this title.
(2) The State Election Commissioner shall designate the file and lists that shall be provided free of charge.
(3) Requests for files or lists in accordance with this section shall be made no later than the last day of registration for an upcoming primary or general election. Requests made after this deadline will be produced as soon as possible, but so as not to interfere with production of files or products required by this title for the conduct of the election or those requested prior to the deadline stated above.
(f) The State Election Commissioner shall, upon request, but no more frequently than once per month, provide files of registered voters in the State to any State agency, county or local government for use in conducting State, county or local government business.
(g) The State Election Commissioner, in collaboration with the Department, shall establish a reasonable cost for files and lists of registered voters requested by persons or organizations not eligible to receive lists in accordance with this section. These costs shall be reviewed at least once every 2 years and updated as appropriate.
(h) Files and lists provided to members of the General Assembly and state agencies or county or local governments pursuant to subsection (f) of this section shall include voter names, addresses, political party affiliation, voting history, telephone numbers and dates of birth. Files and lists provided to major and minor political parties pursuant to subsections (a) through (d) of this section and to candidates for elective office pursuant to subsection (e) of this section shall be limited to voter names, addresses, political party affiliations, voting history, legislative district information, telephone numbers and years of birth. Files and lists provided to the public shall be limited to voter names, addresses, political party affiliations, voting history, legislative district information, and years of birth. The Delaware Freedom of Information Act, Chapter 100 of Title 29, shall not apply to information contained in voter lists and files created and maintained pursuant to this title.
(i) The State Election Commissioner, in collaboration with the Department, shall develop and implement policies and procedures for protecting the information about persons in the State’s election management system, and on records and electronic media in the possession of the State Election Commissioner’s office and the Department.
15 Del. C. 1953, § ?305; 50 Del. Laws, c. 168, § ?1; 52 Del. Laws, c. 221, § ?1; 57 Del. Laws, c. 181, § ?17; 57 Del. Laws, c. 567, §§ ?5, 6; 58 Del. Laws, c. 215, § ?4; 58 Del. Laws, c. 397, § ?1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § ?1; 75 Del. Laws, c. 232, § ?4; 77 Del. Laws, c. 227, §§ ?2, 15-17; 79 Del. Laws, c. 275, § ?13;