Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 3172 – Calculation of votes; ties
(a) The Department shall forthwith calculate the total number of votes cast for each candidate in any contest and certify the candidate or candidates receiving the highest number of votes.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 3172
- Board: means that body of individuals appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate to serve or who otherwise serve as the State Board of Elections in accordance with Chapter 2 of this title, and are, as such, vested with the responsibility and power to see to the administration of the election laws of this State as more particularly defined in this title. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- County committee: means the regularly organized and constituted county committee or governing authority of a political party. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- 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
- State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
- State committee: means the regularly organized and constituted statewide governing authority of a political party in this State. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 101
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
(b) In the case of any objection or dispute, the State Board of Elections shall convene within 48 hours of the closing of the polls to examine the matter, reviewing such records and hearing such testimony as it shall deem necessary. The Board shall determine the result of the contested election and certify the name of the winning candidate or candidates. In the case of statewide contests, the State Election Commissioner shall be immediately notified of the Board’s determination.
(c) In all cases of a tie vote, the Department shall immediately notify the chair and secretary of the county committee of the political party holding the primary election. This committee shall convene within 5 days of such notification to determine which candidate shall be entitled to the nomination.
(d) In cases where there is a tie vote in a statewide contest, the State Election Commissioner shall immediately notify the chair and secretary of the state committee of the political party involved, and that committee shall convene within 5 days, as provided above, to decide upon the nomination.
(e) If the number of votes separating a candidate and the closest opposing candidate in a primary election is less than 1,000 votes, in the case of a statewide contest, or ½ of 1% of all votes cast for the 2 candidates, in the case of any other contest, whichever is less, the Department shall recount the ballots cast in that election at state expense as part of the canvass of the vote.
20 Del. Laws, c. 393, § ?38; 27 Del. Laws, c. 66, § ?1; Code 1915, § ?1712; Code 1935, § ?1800; 15 Del. C. 1953, § ?3174; 58 Del. Laws, c. 148, § ?145; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § ?1; 75 Del. Laws, c. 232, § ?34; 79 Del. Laws, c. 275, § ?61; 82 Del. Laws, c. 170, § 8;