2023 Delaware Code › Title 15 - Elections › Chapter 75. MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS › Subchapter IV. Municipal Elections Except for the City of Wilmington › § 7555. Candidates; eligibility; declaration of candidacy.

§ 7555. Candidates; eligibility; declaration of candidacy.
(a) Candidate eligibility shall be established in the town charter.
(b) The procedure for declaration of candidacy shall be established in the town charter or by ordinance.
(c) Unless otherwise specified in the town charter:
(1) A candidate for municipal government shall not have been convicted of a felony;
(2) A candidate for the chief executive of a municipality shall have been a qualified elector of the municipality for at least 1 year prior to the date of the election and shall be at least 21 years of age on or before the date of the election; and
(3) A candidate for a municipality's legislative body and all other elective offices shall have been a qualified elector of the municipality for at least 1 year prior to the date of the election, and shall be at least 21 years of age on or before the date of the election.
(d) A candidate for municipal office shall file a Certificate of Intention or a Statement of Organization establishing a campaign committee with the State Election Commissioner no later than 7 days after declaring the candidate's candidacy.
(1) The candidate shall file a Certificate of Intention if 1 of the following apply:
a. The yearly salary for the office for which the candidate has filed a Declaration of Candidacy is less than $1,000.
b. The candidate does not intend to receive more than $5,000 in contributions or expend more than $5,000 for campaign expenses during the campaign under § 8004 of this title.
(2) If paragraph (d)(1) of this section does not apply, the candidate shall notify the Commissioner and file a Statement of Organization no later than 7 days after making expenditures or receiving contributions on behalf of the candidate or committee.
(e) The State Election Commissioner shall notify a municipality's Board of Elections when a candidate has failed to comply with the provisions of subsection (d) of this section above.
(f) Excepting candidacies otherwise provided for in the town charter and which have complied with the provisions of subsection (d) of this section within 5 days after the election, the Board of Elections of a municipality shall declare a candidate who has failed to comply with the provisions of subsection (d) of this section ineligible to be a candidate and shall order that candidate's name removed from the ballot subject to the appeal provisions of § 7552 of this title. Administrative errors or oversights by municipal or state officials shall not be grounds for declaring a person ineligible to be a candidate.
(g) Officials receiving any document required in this section shall provide the person filing the document with a receipt showing the date and time that the document was filed and the name of the person who received the document.
(h) Officials receiving any document required in this section shall immediately notify the person submitting the document of any deficiency in the submission. The person submitting the document shall have 2 business days to correct the deficiency even if the extension extends beyond the applicable deadline. If the person does not correct the deficiency by the end of the second business day, the municipality shall reject it.
(i) All documents filed in accordance with this section are public records and a municipality shall make them available for inspection by the public in accordance with the Delaware Freedom of Information Act [Chapter 100 of Title 29].
(j) Where the number of qualified candidates for an office is equal to or less than the number of seats up for election, the Board of Elections shall declare the candidate or candidates elected.
(k) The State Election Commissioner shall prepare a package of Municipal Candidate Forms required by this section and instructions for completing and filing the forms. The Commissioner shall provide each municipality copies of the Municipal Candidate Forms package and publish the package on the State Election Commissioner's website. Municipalities and the Department offices shall publish the Municipal Candidate Forms package on their websites, should such websites exist. Municipalities shall maintain a sufficient supply of Municipal Candidate Forms packages to meet demand.
(l) A municipality shall submit the names of candidates for each office up for election to the Department office conducting the municipality's election no later than 1 business day following the filing deadlines for the elected position.
(m) A person may withdraw as a candidate by filing the form promulgated by the State Election Commissioner for that purpose with the municipality.
(1) If there are 2 or more candidates remaining on the ballot for the office and there are 14 or more days prior to the date of the election, the municipality shall mail new absentee ballots to all persons to whom it had issued absentee ballots. If an absentee voter does not return the replacement absentee ballot before 12 noon the day before the election, the municipality shall count the original ballot.
(2) Any votes cast for a person who has withdrawn that person's own candidacy are invalid and the municipality shall not tally, canvass nor report such votes.
75 Del. Laws, c. 342, §  2;  70 Del. Laws, c. 186, §  1;  77 Del. Laws, c. 227, §  2;  82 Del. Laws, c. 170, § 56;  83 Del. Laws, c. 210, § 1;