2021 Delaware Code
Title 15 - Elections
Chapter 34. Write-in Candidates
§ 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.
(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(g) Once a person has withdrawn as a candidate or write-in candidate for an office, that person shall not declare himself or herself a write-in candidate for the same office in the same year.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;
