Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 2049 – Change of party designation; procedure
(a) Any duly registered voter may apply to change that registered voter’s political affiliation by completing and submitting a voter registration application to the Department except in the year of a general election during the period from the last Saturday in May through the day of the primary election. The application shall be upon a form provided by the Commissioner and shall be signed by the registrant and returned by mail or delivered to the Department. An appropriately addressed envelope shall be supplied by the Department for return of the executed application. Upon receipt of the executed application, the Department shall cause the signature to be compared with the original registration record of such applicant, and if such signature appears to be the same, such change of affiliation shall be made in the voter registration records and the applicant shall be immediately notified. If the Department is not satisfied as to the signature on the application, the applicant shall be notified by mail to appear at any office of the Department to answer under oath such questions as may be deemed necessary.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 2049
- Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
- Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
- 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
- political party: means any political organization which elects a state committee and officers of a state committee, by a state convention composed of delegates elected from each representative district in which the party has registered members, and which nominates candidates for electors of President and Vice-President, or nominates candidates for offices to be decided at the general election. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- Primary election: means an election at which voters registered as members of a major political party may vote to determine the nominees of that political party for the general election. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- Registration record: means a voter's registration record maintained in the State's Election Management System, the list or file of registered voters sent to each election district for use by election officers on the day of the election, and until determined obsolete, it also applies to a voter's record maintained in the county master file. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- Signature: means both a written signature conforming to § 302(23) of Title 1 and a digital or electronic signature that is an electronic sound, symbol or process attached to or logically associated with a document and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the document as specified by the State Election Commissioner. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- Year: means a calendar year, and is equivalent to the words "year of our Lord. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
(b) Applications received that change a person’s political party affiliation during a period in which a person may not change that person’s own political party affiliation in accordance with provisions of this title shall be held by the Department and processed when the period to change a person’s political party affiliation reopens.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section a person may change his or her party affiliation in the year of a general election during the period from the last Saturday in May through September 1 if:
(1) The statewide and county chair of a political party provide a written affidavit to the Department stating that such person has asked or agreed to be a candidate for office of that political party and the statewide and county chair of a political party want the person to be a candidate for office representing the political party; and
(2) The person provides an affidavit to the Department stating that such person is changing political parties to be a candidate for office of the political party providing the affidavit described in paragraph (c)(1) of this section and a withdrawal form for any other candidacies.
15 Del. C. 1953, § ?1751; 50 Del. Laws, c. 169, § ?42; 52 Del. Laws, c. 59; 55 Del. Laws, c. 78, § ?4; 57 Del. Laws, c. 181, § ?38; 57 Del. Laws, c. 567, § ?16; 58 Del. Laws, c. 148, § ?32; 58 Del. Laws, c. 215, § ?41; 61 Del. Laws, c. 418, § ?6; 67 Del. Laws, c. 354, § ?15; 69 Del. Laws, c. 191, § ?3; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § ?1; 70 Del. Laws, c. 245, § ?15; 72 Del. Laws, c. 275, § ?6; 73 Del. Laws, c. 251, § ?1; 74 Del. Laws, c. 411, § ?19; 75 Del. Laws, c. 232, §§ ?28, 29; 78 Del. Laws, c. 36, § ?3; 78 Del. Laws, c. 154, § ?6; 79 Del. Laws, c. 232, § ?2; 79 Del. Laws, c. 275, § ?41; 82 Del. Laws, c. 170, § 2;