2006 Delaware Code - CHAPTER 3 — STATE ELECTION COMMISSIONER

§ 301. Appointment; term and compensation.

(a) The State Election Commissioner shall be appointed by the Governor for a term of 4 years and confirmed by a majority of the members elected to the Senate. Until such appointment and confirmation the State Auditor shall serve as the State Election Commissioner without additional compensation. In the event of a vacancy in the office, the Governor shall appoint a successor to fulfill the unexpired term and said successor shall be confirmed by a majority of the members elected to the Senate.

(b) The salary of the State Election Commissioner shall be determined by the Governor and shall be no less than $12,000 and no more than $16,000 per year.

(c) The State Election Commissioner shall serve in this capacity on a full-time basis and his or her powers and duties prescribed by this title shall remain with the Election Commissioner and shall not be delegated to any other individual or group.

(d) The State Election Commissioner shall not hold or be a candidate for any:

(1) Federal, state, county, city or incorporated municipality elective office; or

(2) Elective office or position of a political party nor shall he or she be an appointed official to any federal, state, county, city or incorporated municipality, commission or administrative body.

(e) The State Election Commissioner shall not directly or indirectly use or seek to use his or her authority or official influence to control or modify the political action of another person or at any time participate in any political activities or campaigns. (15 Del. C. 1953, § 302; 50 Del. Laws, c. 168, § 1; 57 Del. Laws, c. 181, § 15; 58 Del. Laws, c. 215, § 2; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1.)

§ 302. General powers and duties of Commissioner.

The Commissioner shall have the following powers and duties:

(1) To furnish, by purchase, lease, or otherwise, such equipment, supplies and services that may be required in order to conduct his or her powers and duties prescribed in this title;

(2) To order any department, board, commission or agency of this State to transfer to the Commissioner any equipment or supplies to the Commissioner's custody that are owned by the State and not in use by the department, board, commission or agency concerned, which may be used by the Commissioner in conducting the functions of the Commissioner's office;

(3) To select and maintain in the City of Dover, preferably in a building owned by the State, suitable office space;

(4) To make reasonable rules and regulations with respect to the functions of the Commissioner's office and with respect to the manner of making entries in registration and election records to be followed by each department and all registration and election officers;

(5) To have the sole responsibility for the security of the records in the Commissioner's office which shall not be delegated to anyone;

(6) To prescribe the form of the registration and election records which under this title are to be uniform throughout this State so long as they are not in conflict with this title;

(7) To supply necessary instruction and assistance to each department and all registration and election officers in order to insure uniform operation of this title throughout the State. In addition, the Commissioner may develop standards and operating procedures for the purpose of having a statewide uniform election system. These standards shall be directed toward ensuring consistency in the redistricting process, the use of technology and the conduct of general, primary special and school elections. The Commissioner shall consult with the respective county departments of elections in developing these standards;

(8) Such other powers and duties as may be necessary in order for the Commissioner to carry out his or her functions under this title;

(9) To be an ex officio member of each county department of elections;

(10) To attend each county department of elections meeting at which time the Commissioner may do the following:

a. Participate in any and all discussions; and

b. Cast a vote only in the event of a tie; and

(11) To collect unofficial results of the general election at each election district in the State and to tabulate, report and disseminate the results of the election as soon as possible to the public. (15 Del. C. 1953, § 303; 50 Del. Laws, c. 168, § 1; 57 Del. Laws, c. 181, § 16; 57 Del. Laws, c. 384; 57 Del. Laws, c. 567, § 4; 58 Del. Laws, c. 215, § 3; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 73 Del. Laws, c. 306, § 2.)

§ 303. Duties upon receipt of a registration application.

(a) Upon receipt of a registration application from a department of elections, the Commissioner of Elections shall have the registration application verified for completeness and accuracy. If the Commissioner's staff identifies a discrepancy with the application, the respective department of elections shall be notified and then correct the discrepancy.

(b) The Commissioner of Elections shall use appropriate technology to maintain a permanent record of each registration application. Paper applications shall be retained for a minimum of 24 months and then maintained in accordance with the appropriate document retention schedule. A permanent copy of each electronic transaction shall be retained.

(c) The Commissioner of Elections, in collaboration with the departments of elections, may establish a program where the departments create and archive an image of each paper registration application. (15 Del. C. 1953, § 304; 50 Del. Laws, c. 168, § 1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 75 Del. Laws, c. 232, § 3.)

§ 304. Lists and files of registered voters.

(a) The Commissioner of Elections 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) 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.

(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 Commissioner of Elections 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 Commissioner of Elections, in collaboration with the departments of elections, 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 each department of elections. The departments of elections 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 Commissioner of Elections 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 he or she 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 Commissioner of Elections 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 Commissioner of Elections 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 Commissioner of Elections, in collaboration with the departments of elections, 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 or lists provided to political parties candidates, and in accordance with subsection (g) of this section shall not include social security numbers or driver's license numbers. (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; 75 Del. Laws, c. 232, § 4.)

§ 305. Duplicate registrations.

At least monthly and within 10 days following the last registration day for each primary and general election, the Commissioner shall notify each department of elections of suspected duplicate registrations within such department's county. Each department of elections shall review the list of suspected duplicate registrations for their county and correct the registration records as appropriate. (15 Del. C. 1953, § 306; 50 Del. Laws, c. 168, § 1; 75 Del. Laws, c. 232, § 5.)

§ 306. Coordination with state agencies.

The Commissioner of Elections, in collaboration with the departments of elections, shall implement as soon as practical automated transfers or exchanges of voter registration information and information necessary to maintain an accurate list of registered voters between the State's election management system and other state databases. (75 Del. Laws, c. 232, § 6.)

§ 307. Supplying lists to political party chairs and other persons.

(a) It shall be the duty of the Commissioner to make available copies of all lists referred to in §§ 304-306 of this title upon request therefor, subject to this section. Eight copies of each list shall be supplied without charge to each political party whose registered members equal at least 1% of the total number of registered voters of this State. In addition, the Commissioner shall sell copies of such lists to any duly certified candidate for a primary election or a general election in the State upon receipt of payment therefor, the charge for each list to be established by the Commissioner, but not to exceed $5 for a total listing of a representative district pursuant to subsection (a) of § 304 of this title or 50 cents for any other list.

(b) Provided that written request therefor is submitted at least 15 days before the date fixed by statute for preparation of the list, the lists shall be made available by the Commissioner as follows: The lists referred to in subsection (a) of § 304 of this title, no later than 7 working days after the last day for registration in the period to which the list relates, and the lists referred to in §§ 305 and 306 of this title, no later than the date for giving notice to the several departments of information contained on such lists. In all other cases, the lists requested shall be made available as soon as practicable.

(c) Requests for lists for political parties shall be submitted in writing by the state chair of each party or by the county chair if there is no state chair. A request may designate other persons, not exceeding 2 in each county, to whom all, or specified portions, of the lists are to be available from the Commissioner. (15 Del. C. 1953, § 308; 57 Del. Laws, c. 181, § 19; 60 Del. Laws, c. 446, § 3; 67 Del. Laws, c. 354, § 2; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1.)

§ 308. Political activity limited; penalty.

(a) No employee of the Office of the State Election Commissioner shall directly or indirectly use or seek to use his or her authority or official influence to control or modify the political action of another person or at anytime actively participate in any political activities or campaigns.

(b) Any person who shall violate this section shall be fined not more than $500 and shall forfeit his or her position or employment. (74 Del. Laws, c. 229, § 1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1.)