Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 3301 – Certificates of nomination
(a) Candidates for political parties who must file for election in accordance with § 3101 of this title, and who either receive the majority vote at the subsequent primary election or are unopposed in the party for the office for which the candidate has filed shall be considered nominated.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 3301
- Ballot: means those portions of cardboard, paper or other material to be placed within the ballot frames of a voting machine or to be used for absentee voting in order to list the names of the offices to be voted for, the name of each candidate and the designation of the party by which the candidate is nominated, a space for the voter to write in the name of any candidate of that voter's choice for any office, and the statement of any question submitted with provision for a "yes" or "no" vote. 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
- Minor political party: means any political party which does not qualify as a major political party. 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
- Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
- 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
- United States: includes its territories and possessions and the District of Columbia. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
- Year: means a calendar year, and is equivalent to the words "year of our Lord. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
(b) The presiding officer and secretary of the state convention or committee of each political party eligible to place candidates on the ballot shall submit certificates of nomination for electors of President and Vice-President of the United States together with the name of the candidates for President and Vice-President to the State Election Commissioner.
(c) The presiding officer and secretary of the state convention or committee of each political party eligible to place candidates on the ballot may submit a candidate for federal and statewide offices by submitting a certificate of nomination to the State Election Commissioner:
(1) For any office for which no candidate has filed in accordance with § 3101 of this title, or
(2) For any office for which candidates are selected by the state nominating convention of a minor political party.
(d) The presiding officer and secretary of the county committee of each political party eligible to place candidates on the ballot shall submit a certificate of nomination for candidates for the General Assembly and county and municipal offices to the Department office for the county in which the candidate resides, as follows:
(1) For any office for which no candidate has filed in accordance with § 3101 of this title.
(2) For any office for which candidates are selected by the state nominating convention of a minor political party.
(e) For minor political parties not required to select candidates under Chapter 31 of this title, each party shall select its candidates at the party’s state or county nominating convention held on or before August 1 in the year of a general election and shall file the certificates of nomination of the selected candidates within 10 business days of the nominating convention. To be removed from a general election ballot, the candidate must withdraw the certificate of nomination on or before 4:30 p.m. on the first Friday after the day the certificate of nomination is submitted.
(f) Nominating certificates shall be in writing and, in each case, shall contain the name of each person nominated, the person’s residence and the office for which the person is nominated, other than the names of the candidates for President and Vice-President for which no residence need be given. The persons making such certificates shall add to their signatures their respective places of residence and shall acknowledge such certificate before an officer duly authorized to take acknowledgments of deeds, and a certificate of such acknowledgment shall be fixed to the instrument.
(g) No such state nominating convention shall have completed its business relative to such nominations until such time as 1 nominee for each of the aforesaid offices shall have received a vote greater than 50% of the total number of eligible delegate votes at such convention, which polled vote shall be considered final.
(h) The State Election Commissioner shall verify that the nominations of candidates submitted to the State Election Commissioner and the eligibility of each political party to make such nominations conform to the requirements under this title. The Department offices shall do the same concerning certificates of nomination submitted to the offices.
(i) The State Election Commissioner shall forthwith send a copy of each certificate of nomination submitted to the Commissioner to the Department offices. The Department offices shall forthwith send a copy of each certificate of nomination submitted to the offices to the State Election Commissioner.
(j) Notwithstanding anything else set forth herein to the contrary, a candidate for office nominated by a party under this section upon the filing of a certificate of nomination must be a registered member of the party nominating such candidate at the time the certificate of nomination is filed, as shown on the voter rolls of the Department (except in the case of presidential and vice-presidential nominees, who need not be registered voters in the State).
19 Del. Laws, c. 37, § ?4; 27 Del. Laws, c. 65, § ?4; Code 1915, § ?1722; Code 1935, § ?1811; 43 Del. Laws, c. 129, § ?1; 44 Del. Laws, c. 119, § ?1; 15 Del. C. 1953, § ?3301; 57 Del. Laws, c. 241, § ?9; 57 Del. Laws, c. 567, §§ ?28, 29; 58 Del. Laws, c. 258, § ?9; 60 Del. Laws, c. 447, §§ ?1-4; 61 Del. Laws, c. 418, §§ ?12, 13; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § ?1; 75 Del. Laws, c. 232, § ?39; 77 Del. Laws, c. 227, §§ ?2, 43; 78 Del. Laws, c. 36, § ?2; 79 Del. Laws, c. 232, § ?1; 79 Del. Laws, c. 275, § ?63; 82 Del. Laws, c. 170, § 9; 83 Del. Laws, c. 210, § 5;