Source: http://delcode.delaware.gov/title15/c055/index.shtml
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 09:14:20+00:00

Document:
§ 5501 Purpose of chapter; scope.
It is the purpose and intent of the General Assembly in enacting this chapter to provide those qualified electors of this State who are unable to appear at an election to cast their ballots at the polling place of their election district with the ability to cast a ballot to be counted in the total for the election district in which the elector is registered, in compliance with article V, § 4A, Delaware Constitution. This chapter shall govern general absentee voting procedures in all primary, general, and special elections conducted in this State; provided, however, that procedures unique to a specific election or election type may be set forth elsewhere in this title.
§ 5502 Persons eligible to vote by absentee ballot.
(8) Because such person is otherwise authorized by federal law to vote by absentee ballot.
§ 5503 Request for ballot; statements for absentee ballots; delivery of absentee ballots.
(a) An elector desiring to vote by absentee ballot in an election for which the elector is a qualified elector may request an absentee ballot from the Department by filing a handwritten or electronically prepared statement with the department no later than 12:00 noon the day before the election.
(b) A statement may be filed pursuant to this section by mailing it, delivering it, or causing it to be delivered to the Department.
(5) Be promulgated by the State Election Commissioner, in consultation with the Department, and personally approved by the Attorney General of the State; provided however, that the Federal Post Card Application or its successor as promulgated by the Federal Voting Assistance Program or its successor shall also be considered an statement as used in this chapter.
(f)(1) If the elector does not indicate the election or elections for which the elector is requesting an absentee ballot, it shall be presumed that the statement for the next scheduled election in which the elector is eligible to vote; provided however, that a statement on which the person indicates that the reason the person is requesting to vote by absentee ballot is that the person is temporarily or permanently physically disabled or that the person qualifies under any of the reasons set forth in § 5502(1), (2), (4) or (7) of this title shall be presumed to be for all elections in a calendar year unless otherwise indicated on the statement.
(2) If the Department is unable to determine the election and/or elections for which a person is requesting an absentee ballot, it shall attempt to contact the person in order to determine the person's intent; provided however, that if time is of the essence and the Department is unable to contact the elector, the Department's county director and deputy county director in the county where such person has requested an absentee ballot shall confer and determine the proper course of action.
(g) Statements filed pursuant to this section on which the elector's domicile is different than the address at which the person is registered to vote within the State shall be used to transfer the person's registration.
(h) Statements filed pursuant to this section on which an elector indicates that the elector has legally changed the elector's name shall be taken as authorization to transfer the elector's previous registration information, including the elector's voting record to the new name. The Department shall then use the statement to make the change on the Department's records.
(i) Statements filed pursuant to this section on which a person indicates a change in political party affiliation received during a period in which changes in political party affiliation are closed shall be used to change the person's political party affiliation when the period for changing political party affiliation re-opens.
(j) The Department may adopt a printed or electronic statement form (or both), containing blanks associated with each item required by this section to be listed on a statement, which may be completed by any elector wishing to receive an absentee ballot pursuant to this section. An elector may submit a written or electronic request to the Department for the Department-prepared statement form, which the Department shall forward to the elector upon receipt of a request therefor.
(k) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, a registered voter eligible to vote by absentee ballot for reasons stated in § 5502 (1), (2), (4), (7) or (8) of this title or because a person's business or occupation is providing care to his or her parent, spouse or child who is living at home and requires constant care due to illness, disability, or injury may apply in writing to the Department for permanent absentee status. The Department shall automatically send an absentee ballot to each person in permanent absentee status for each election in which the person is entitled to vote.
(3) The Department shall cancel a person's permanent absentee status upon the return of an absentee ballot or other correspondence sent by first-class mail as undeliverable, the person's death or disqualification, the cancellation of the person's voter registration, the receipt of a written request from the person, or receipt of written notification that the reason that the person has stated for voting by absentee ballot is no longer valid.
(4) Persons in permanent absentee status shall keep the Department informed of changes in address, changes in name or changes in the reason that the person has listed for voting by absentee ballot.
(5) The Department shall post a list of permanent absentee voters on its web site.
(l ) Upon request, a registered voter eligible to vote by absentee ballot for reasons stated in § 5502(4) of this title may be sent and may return his or her absentee ballot by electronic transmission in accordance with § 5525 of this title.
(a) Upon receipt of a statement from an elector pursuant to § 5503 of this title, the Department shall process the same and confirm that the elector qualifies for an absentee ballot pursuant to § 5502 of this title.
c. Addressed for return to the Department.
(c) Postage for all mailings made pursuant to this subsection shall be pre-paid by the Department.
§ 5505 Requirements for ballot envelope; numbering and coding; voter identification label; statement of eligibility.
"I do solemnly swear (affirm) that to the best of my knowledge I am eligible to vote in the State of Delaware and that my voting address is as it appears on the label on this envelope. I also do solemnly swear (affirm) under penalty of perjury that I have not received or accepted, or offered to receive or accept, any money or other item of value as compensation, inducement or reward for the giving or withholding of a vote at this election, nor that I am acting under duress or threat of duress or harm."
(5) If the voter is voting under the provisions of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Voting Act [42 U.S.C. § 1973ff et seq.], the oath shall be as provided by that act as amended.
The Attorney General shall prepare a list of instructions to assist an elector voting by absentee ballot in properly marking and returning the elector's ballot pursuant to this chapter. These instructions shall be known and marked as "INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING AND RETURNING AN ABSENTEE BALLOT." Before each election the Attorney General shall deliver a copy of the instructions to the Department in sufficient time for the Department to have the instructions printed and delivered to each elector who requested an absentee ballot for the ensuing election.
§ 5507 Voting procedure; execution of statement; return of ballot.
b. Delivering it, or causing it to be delivered, to the Department before the polls close on the day of the election.
(a) The Department shall endorse the date and time of receipt on the ballot envelope of each absentee ballot received thereby.
(b) For an absentee ballot to be counted pursuant to this chapter, an elector voting by absentee ballot shall return the elector marked ballot to the Department before the polls close on the day of the election.
(c) The Department shall retain unopened any ballot envelope it receives after the polls close on the day of the election until the last day of February next after the election, or longer if directed by proper authority or required to do so by federal law.
§ 5509 Procedure on receipt of ballot envelope by Department.
(b) No member of the Department (the director or any other person) shall open or attempt to open the ballot envelope, or change or alter or attempt to change or alter the ballot envelope, or any writing, printing or anything whatsoever thereon.
(3) If a challenge has been made, the BALLOT ENVELOPE shall be marked as "CHALLENGED" and shall be set aside in a secure location for consideration at a later time as provided elsewhere in this title.
e. Record the proper notations of such votes in the election records for the election district to which they apply.
f. A ballot that a team determines cannot be read by the tabulating equipment or which the tabulating equipment rejects, shall be duplicated as provided for in § 5510A of this title.
(5) Once absentee votes have been recorded, an absentee judge shall deposit the voted ballots, rejected ballots, and any absentee vote tally sheet that may have been used, in a carrier envelope for the election district with whose votes the absentee votes are counted; provided, however, that each carrier envelope shall contain absentee ballots, rejected ballots, and tally sheets for no more than one election district and only one carrier envelope shall be filled at a time.
(6) Once a carrier envelope is filled, it shall be sealed by an absentee judge. The absentee judge shall sign the absentee judge's name on each sealed carrier envelope, affirming that the absentee judge sealed the envelope and that the envelope contains ballots for the election district to which the envelope is assigned. Each sealed and signed carrier envelope shall be placed in a secure location and held there until such time as it is destroyed or moved for further legal process.
(7) The results of the absentee ballots shall not be extracted or reported before the polls have closed on the day of the election.
§ 5510A Preparing absentee ballots for tabulation.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter or regulations adopted by the Department, a Department of Elections may open absentee ballots in public meetings beginning the Friday before the day of the election in order to prepare them for tabulation. The Department shall notify each party on the ballot that they may have challengers at the meetings during which the Department opens the absentee ballots. The challengers may challenge ballots as provided elsewhere in this title.
(b) The Department shall appoint teams composed of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans to open and duplicate ballots.
(c) The teams shall open ballots by election district, check them off against the list of absentee voters, duplicate ballots that the team determines that the tabulating equipment cannot read and then secure the opened and duplicated ballots along with the envelopes in a carrier envelope. The teams shall record the number of the carrier envelope and the election district number on a log sheet that it shall also secure in the same carrier envelope.
(d) Teams shall duplicate ballots by marking them according to the voter's intent as shown on the ballot marked by the voter. If a team cannot determine a voter's intent, they consult the director and deputy director for advice and guidance.
(e) When duplicating ballots, the teams shall assign the same unique identifier to the ballot that they duplicate and the duplicated ballot. After the team has duplicated ballots for an election district, the team shall put the ballots that the team duplicated in a separate envelope and put it in the carrier envelope for the election district and the team shall put the duplicated ballots with the ballots that the Department shall tabulate on the day of the election.
(f) The Department shall secure the carrier envelopes in locked cabinets until opened in a subsequent public meeting to insert additional ballots or to tabulate the ballots on the day of the election.
(a) The Department shall purchase envelopes to be used as carrier envelopes, which shall be security mailing envelopes, designed to securely protect the contents thereof from tampering, removal, or substitution without detection and shall be large enough to accommodate multiple absentee ballots cast in the election.
(d) In the event the Department must move absentee ballots for the purposes of certifying an election, or recounting votes cast in an election, it shall select the carrier envelopes for the affected election districts and move them, in a secure fashion, to the location where the carrier envelopes will be opened and the votes inside inspected.
(2) Placed in a secure location and held there until such time as it is destroyed or moved for further legal process.
The Attorney General shall personally approve each kind or type of envelope for use pursuant to this chapter. The Department shall not purchase, use, have printed upon, mail or deliver any envelope for use pursuant to this chapter unless such type or kind of such envelope has first been approved personally by the Attorney General.
(2) On the ground that the statement in the center of the face of the ballot envelope is not signed.
(c) If a challenge is made pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, an absentee judge shall return the ballot to its ballot envelope, shall mark the ballot envelope as "CHALLENGED," and shall set the envelope aside in a secure location for consideration at a later time as provided elsewhere in this title. If a challenge is made pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, an absentee judge shall mark the ballot envelope as "CHALLENGED" and shall set it aside in a secure location for consideration at a later time as provided elsewhere in this title.
(d) All challenges to absentee ballots voted in a particular election district must be resolved before the counting of votes in that election district may be considered complete. Any challenge not resolved by the absentee judges within a reasonable time of the challenge having been made shall be referred for resolution to the county director and deputy county director of the Department in the county where such election district is located.
(b) If the ballot envelope has not been opened at the time an absentee judge decides that the offered ballot contained therein should not be accepted or voted for any of the reasons set forth in subsection (a) of this section, it shall not be opened but shall instead be endorsed thereon as, "REJECTED," giving reason therefore.
(c) If the ballot envelope has been opened at the time an absentee judge decides that the offered ballot contained therein should not be accepted or voted for any of the reasons set forth in subsection (a) of this section, the ballot shall be returned to its ballot envelope and the absentee judge shall endorse on the ballot envelope, "REJECTED," giving reason therefore.
(d) Whenever it is made to appear by due proof to an absentee judge that any absentee voter, who has marked and forwarded the absentee voter's ballot, has died, the ballot envelope containing the ballot shall not be opened but shall be marked "REJECTED, DEAD," and shall be preserved and disposed of as other rejected ballots.
(f) Ballots rejected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in a carrier envelope for the election district to which they apply.
§ 5515 Validity of absentee voter's ballot for wrong district.
If an absentee voter marks and returns an absentee ballot for an election district other than the 1 of which the absentee voter is a resident and a duly registered elector, such ballot, because thereof, shall not be adjudged invalid, but, as indicated by the marking of the ballot by the voter, shall be counted as a vote for every candidate appearing thereon who is a candidate for an office to be duly voted for in the election district.
(b) The Department shall compile from its files a list of names and addresses of all applicants for absentee ballots, and shall send current and complete copies thereof without cost to all political parties with candidates on the ballot in the forthcoming election. Such lists shall be provided no later than 2 weeks prior to the date of the election and copies of the lists must be mailed on the same date to the respective chairs of each political party involved in the election. Comparable information from the file shall also be made available to representatives of all political parties at each office of the Department during the remaining 2 weeks before the election, such information to be recorded by such representatives from the daily records of the Department with the cooperation and assistance of the employees thereof.
(a) Any person who qualifies for an absentee ballot pursuant to § 5502(1), (2) or (7) of this title, and who has requested the same, shall qualify for an absentee ballot in all elections conducted under the provisions of this title during the period from receipt of the application following the last general election and through December 31 of the year following the last general election. Additionally, if a person states the duration of his or her absence from the State, their federal post card application (FPCA) shall be valid for that period.
(b) The receipt of a federal post card application from any person eligible to use the FPCA for an absentee ballot who is not registered to vote in Delaware but is eligible to register to vote in Delaware shall serve as an application to register to vote as well as a request and statement for an absentee ballot.
(c) The Department may send and receive absentee ballot applications, FPCAs, absentee ballots and federal write-in absentee ballots by electronic transmission.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this title, an elector who qualifies under any of the reasons set forth in § 5502(1), (2) or (7) of this title may, during the calendar year in which an election is to be held for President, United States Senator or Representative in Congress, request a special write-in absentee ballot.
(b) The request for a special write-in absentee ballot may be made on the federal post card application (FPCA) form, or on a form prescribed by the State Election Commissioner.
(c) In order to qualify for a special write-in absentee ballot, the elector must state under oath and under penalty of perjury that the elector is unable to vote by regular absentee ballot or in person due to requirements of military service or due to living in isolated or extremely remote areas of the world.
(d) Upon receipt of an application pursuant to this section, the Department may hold said application until 90 days prior to an election, but shall mail a ballot and the related materials to the elector as soon thereafter as possible. The special write-in absentee ballot shall be in a form prescribed and provided by the State Election Commissioner, and shall permit the elector to vote by writing in a party preference for each office, or the name of the person whom the voter prefers for each office.
(c) A person eligible to vote by FWAB may return the ballot, eligibility information and signed oath by electronic transmission. Any person returning the FWAB electronically is deemed to have acknowledged that there may be situations where the secrecy of that person's ballot cannot be guaranteed.
§ 5522 Duties of Department of Elections; political balance of absentee judges; security.
(a) The Department shall ensure that each panel of absentee judges selected to officiate the procedures set forth in this chapter represent a politically balanced cross section of the major political parties participating in the election for which absentee ballots are being counted.
(b) The Department shall promulgate regulations to ensure the security and integrity of the procedures set forth in this chapter and that the counting process for absentee ballots is not subject to improper influences.
(a) The State Election Commissioner, in consultation with the Department, shall promulgate rules and regulations relating to logic and accuracy testing of absentee ballot tabulating machines.
(7) Records are kept of all pre-election testing of each absentee ballot tabulating machine which shall be present and available for inspection and reference during public pre-election testing of that machine by any person in attendance during such testing.
(a) In the event that a national or local emergency makes substantial compliance with the provisions of this title and/or the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (52 U.S.C. § 20301 et seq.) impossible or unreasonable for some of all of the citizens covered under § 5502(1) or (2) of this title, the State Election Commissioner may direct the use of special procedures to facilitate absentee voting for those citizens directly affected who are eligible to vote in the State. Such an emergency may be a natural and/or humanitarian disaster; and/or armed conflict involving United States Armed Forces to include mobilized State National Guard and/or Reserve components.
(b) The State Election Commissioner shall consult with the Governor and the Federal Voting Assistance Program or its successor prior to directing the use of the special procedures cited in subsection (a) of this section.
(c) The State Election Commissioner, in collaboration with the Department, shall promulgate special procedures to be followed in the event that such a national or local emergency occurs.
(a) The provisions of this section apply to persons eligible to vote under the provisions of the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, as amended, 52 U.S.C. § 20301, et seq.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this title, upon receipt of a written request on a federal post card application that includes an applicant's electronic address, the Department shall electronically deliver to an applicant that applicant's own absentee ballot, appropriate instructions and any other information the applicant needs to vote and return that applicant's own ballot.
(c) The Department shall transmit to the applicant an absentee ballot, instructions and other necessary information within 3 business days following receipt of a request from an applicant. If ballots are not available when the Department receives this request, the Department shall transmit a ballot, instructions and other necessary information to the applicant within 5 business days after the ballots become available.
(d) An applicant who is sent a ballot electronically may return such ballot via postal mail, courier or electronic means in accordance with the instructions sent with the ballot. A voter who returns a ballot electronically is deemed to have acknowledged that there may be situations where the secrecy of that voter's ballot cannot be guaranteed.
(e) A person who returns a ballot electronically shall also return a signed oath and identification information with the ballot. The oath may be signed digitally as provided in the instructions sent by the Department to the voter.
(f) The State Election Commissioner, in collaboration with the Department, shall establish procedures for electronically delivering absentee ballots to the voters with instructions for the voters to follow in voting and electronically returning their ballots to the respective department of elections.
The State Election Commissioner, in collaboration with the Department, shall establish a free access system accessible via the internet through which a person who applied for an absentee ballot can determine whether or not the ballot application was received, when the ballot was transmitted, when the voted ballot was received by the Department, and whether or not the ballot was counted.
The State Election Commissioner, in collaboration with the Department, shall implement those provisions of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voters Act (52 U.S.C. § 20301 et seq.) not specifically mandated by this chapter.

References: § 4

§ 5502

§ 5503
 § 5502
 § 5502
 § 5502
 § 5525
 § 5503
 § 5502

§ 5505
 § 1973

§ 5507

§ 5509
 § 5510

§ 5510

§ 5515
 § 5502
 § 5502

§ 5522
 § 20301
 § 5502
 § 20301
 § 20301