Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 3402 – Write-in candidates for a general election
(a) Superior Court shall only count a write-in vote for a person who has declared himself or herself a write-in candidate for the office for which that person was written-in in accordance with this chapter. Superior Court shall count a write-in vote for a candidate on a general or special election ballot if the write-in vote is for the office for which the person is a candidate.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 3402
- 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
- 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
- Year: means a calendar year, and is equivalent to the words "year of our Lord. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
(b) Superior Court shall account for write-in votes cast for other than declared write-in candidates as “Other Write-in Votes.”
(c) A person shall declare as a write-in candidate for an office by filing a Write-in Candidate Declaration with the State Election Commissioner for a statewide office or the Department office for the county in which the election is to be held for General Assembly, county, or City of Wilmington offices no later than 4:30 p.m. on September 20 in the year of a general election. If September 20 is a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, the declaration must be filed no later than 4:30 p.m. on the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday. If the boundary of a General Assembly office includes more than 1 county, the person shall file that person’s Write-in Candidate Declaration with the Department office for the county in which that person is a registered voter.
(d) The State Election Commissioner or Department office for the county in which a person who has filed a Write-in Candidate Declaration is a registered voter shall determine whether the person is eligible to be a candidate for the office for which the person has filed the Declaration.
(e) A person shall not declare himself or herself a write-in candidate if that person is a candidate on the general election ballot.
(f) A person shall not declare himself or herself a write-in candidate for more than one office. The filing of a declaration for another office prior to the declaration deadline established in this chapter shall make any previous declaration null and void.
(g) Once a person has withdrawn as a candidate or write-in candidate for an office, that person shall not declare himself or herself a write-in candidate for the same office in the same year.
(h) A declared write-in candidate shall comply with the requirements in Chapter 80 of this title.
(i) A declared write-in candidate may withdraw that candidate’s candidacy by filing a withdrawal form with the office at which that candidate filed the candidate’s Write-in Candidate Declaration no later than 15 days prior to the date of the election.
76 Del. Laws, c. 315, § ?1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § ?1; 77 Del. Laws, c. 227, § ?2; 82 Del. Laws, c. 170, § 11;