[HISTORY: Adopted by The Mayor and Council of New Castle: Art. I, 1-6-1987
by Ord. No. 290. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 1-6-1987 by Ord. No. 290]
Any qualified elector, duly registered, may cast his/her vote by absentee
ballot in any city election, if he/she is unable to appear at the polling
place in the city due to the following reasons:
A.
Because such person is in the public service
of the United States or of this state;
B.
Because such person is in the armed forces
of the United States or the merchant marine of the United States, or attached
to and serving with the armed forces of the United States in the American
Red Cross, Society of Friends or United Service Organizations;
C.
Because such person is unavoidably absent from
the city on the day of the election;
D.
Because such person is sick or physically disabled;
E.
Because such person is absent from the city
while on vacation; or
F.
Because such person is unable to vote at a
certain time or on a certain day due to the tenets or teachings of his/her
religion.
A.
Any elector desiring to receive an absentee ballot because he/she qualifies under any of the reasons set forth in § 78-1 shall file an affidavit with the Absentee Ballot Clerk, who shall be appointed by City Council two months prior to any election subscribed and sworn to by him/her before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. The affidavit shall be dated not more than 45 days prior to the day of the election. It shall state the reason why he/she cannot appear at the regular polling place on the day of the election, his/her birthdate, social security number, his/her expected location, including his/her address and a telephone number (if available) to be used for the purpose of challenge on election day and, if sick or disabled, the name and address of a physician or Christian Science practitioner who can attest to the elector's inability to go to the polling place on the day of election. The Absentee Ballot Clerk shall mail or deliver the official ballot, envelopes and instructions to the elector as soon as possible after receiving the affidavit.
B.
Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the issuance of an absentee ballot to any qualified elector serving in the armed forces of the United States, or the merchant marine in the United States, or attached to and serving with the armed forces of the United States in the American Red Cross, Society of Friends or United Service Organizations when such an elector is lawfully entitled to an absentee ballot and has made a request to the Absentee Ballot Clerk if, in the judgment of the Board of Elections, the elector has been reasonably unable to comply fully with the requirements for an affidavit set forth in Subsection A above.
Any elector who is qualified under § 78-1 to vote by absentee ballot and who desires to do so shall, not later than 12:00 noon of the day prior to any such election, request the Absentee Ballot Clerk for an official ballot to be voted at such election.
Upon receipt of a request from an elector, together with an affidavit if required by § 78-2, the Absentee Ballot Clerk shall mail to the elector, postage prepaid, an official ballot for the city enclosed in an official envelope along with a voucher envelope marked "voucher envelope," a copy of instructions to absentee voters and a mailing envelope marked "mailing envelope."
There shall be printed on the face of each voucher envelope an affidavit
in substantially the following form:
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"I do solemnly swear (affirm) that I am a bona fide resident of the
City of New Castle and will be a resident of the City on the date of the election
___________, 19___; that my voting address is
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Street address,—Road
New Castle, Delaware 19720
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"That I will be absent from the city on the day of election because
of being () In the public services of the United States or this State, ()
In the armed forces of the United States or the merchant marine of the United
States, or attached to and serving with the armed forces of the United States
in the American Red Cross Society of Friends or the United Service Organization,
() Unavoidably absent from the city, () Sick or physically disabled. For the
reason indicated, I cannot appear at the polling place in the city. I further
swear (affirm) that I marked my ballot in secret.
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"I . . . . . do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have not received
or accepted, or offered to receive or accept, paid or transferred or delivered,
or offered or promised to pay, transfer or deliver or contributed or offered
or promised to contribute to another to be paid or used any money or other
valuable thing as compensation, inducement or reward for the registering or
abstaining from registering of anyone qualified to register or for the giving
or withholding a vote at this election.
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(Signed)
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Write name here
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Print name here
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"Subscribed and sworn (affirmed) before me this _______ day of ______________,
A.D. 19___; and I hereby certify that the affiant did in such manner that
I could not see his/her ballot mark such ballot and that the affiant was not
solicited or advised by me to vote for or against any candidate.
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(Signed)
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Notary Public; or other qualified person; state title
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A.
The voucher envelope shall be of the type known
as a security mailing envelope and shall be of such as to securely protect
the contents thereof from tampering, removal or substitution without detection.
Such envelopes shall be successively numbered beginning with Number 1 printed
in red ink in the upper right-hand corner thereof.
B.
The mailing envelope shall be large enough
to carry the voucher envelope.
A list of instructions to assist an absentee voter in properly marking
and returning his/her ballot shall be prepared by the Absentee Ballot Clerk
which shall be known as "instructions to absentee voter."
The absentee voter shall make and subscribe to the affidavit printed
on the voucher envelope, before an officer authorized by law to administer
oaths, and such voter shall thereupon in the presence of such officer, and
of no other person, mark such ballot but in such manner that the officer cannot
know how the ballot is marked, and the ballot shall then in the presence of
the officer be deposited by the voter in the official envelope. The official
envelope containing the ballot shall then be deposited in the voucher envelope,
and the voucher envelope shall be securely sealed by the voter. Thereupon
the voucher envelope containing the marked ballot shall be enclosed in the
mailing envelope received by the voter from the city and, after the voter
has enclosed the voucher containing the marked ballot in the mailing envelope,
he/she shall securely seal the mailing envelope and mail it, postage prepaid,
to the city, or if more convenient, it may be delivered to the city in person,
to be received in either case by the city before 12:00 noon of the day before
the election and not thereafter.
The absentee voter shall return his/her marked ballot enclosed in the
voucher envelope to the city before 12:00 noon of the day before election;
and any absentee ballot received by the city after 12:00 noon of the day before
election shall not be forwarded to the polls, but the city shall endorse on
the voucher envelope containing such ballot the time such was received and
shall retain all such envelopes unopened and so endorsed, with the election
returns.
Upon receipt of the mailing envelope from the absentee voter, the Absentee
Ballot Clerk shall open only the mail envelope and take therefrom the voucher
envelope containing the ballot of the absentee voter and shall deposit the
voucher envelope in the special envelope for the Board of Elections when all
ballots are received. When all ballots are received, on the day of the election,
they shall be placed in an envelope and turned over to the Board of Elections.
The election officers shall refuse to receive any absentee voter's
ballot from any person other than the Absentee Ballot Clerk.
A.
At any time between the opening and the closing
of the polls on election day the Board of Elections shall open the outer or
carrier envelope only and ascertain the name of the absentee voter as appears
by the executed affidavit of the absentee voter on the voucher envelope enclosing
the marked ballot, whereupon he/she shall announce the absentee voter's
name for the purpose of challenges and upon the determination that such person
is a duly registered voter by comparing the voter's signature upon the
voucher envelope with the signature of the voter appearing in the Registration
Record, and that such elector has not voted in person at the election. He/She
shall open the voucher envelope containing such absentee voter's ballot
in such a manner as not to deface or destroy the number thereof, or the affidavit
thereon, and take therefrom the official envelope containing the marked ballot,
and without opening or permitting the official envelope to be opened or the
contents examined, shall cause two Election Clerks to write their names on
the official envelope, and the Clerks shall enter the name and address of
the absentee voter on the poll lists. The ballot shall then be voted by depositing
the same (still in its official envelope) in the ballot box provided for receipt
of absentee ballots, and the proper notations of such vote shall then be recorded
in the election records in the same fashion as if the voter had appeared to
cast his/her vote in person.
B.
All voucher envelopes from which ballots have been taken and voted and all voucher envelopes containing ballots which have been rejected and endorsed as provided in § 78-9 of this chapter, shall be preserved by the inspector, and at the close of the count shall be placed in the ballot box. The judges shall see to it that a voter signature card marked with the absentee voter's name and permanent significant registration number and bearing a notation that the person has voted absentee shall be placed with the voter signature cards of all those persons who have cast their ballot on the voting machine.
The vote of any absentee voter may be challenged for the same causes and in the same manner as provided for other voters. In addition, the vote of an absentee voter may be challenged on the ground that the affidavit filed by the voter in compliance with § 78-2 is false.
A.
In case the affidavit of the absentee voter
is found to be insufficient, or the absentee voter is not a duly registered
elector in the city, or the voucher envelope is open, or has been opened and
resealed, or it is evident that the voucher envelope has been tampered with
or altered, or such ballot has been forwarded to the polls by someone other
than the Absentee Ballot Clerk, such vote shall not be accepted or counted.
If the voucher envelope has not been opened at the time the election officers
decide that the offered ballot contained therein should be rejected for any
of the foregoing reasons, it shall not be opened by the election officers,
but they shall endorse thereon, "REJECTED," giving reason therefor, and if
the voucher envelope has been opened and the ballot is rejected, the official
envelope containing the ballot shall be replaced in the same voucher envelope
from which it was taken, and the election officers shall endorse on the voucher
envelope, "REJECTED," giving reason therefor.
B.
Whenever it is made to appear by due proof
to the inspector and judges of election that any absentee voter, who has marked
and forwarded his/her ballot, has died, the voucher envelope containing the
ballot shall not be opened but shall be marked "REJECTED, dead," and shall
be preserved and disposed of as other rejected ballots.
C.
Whenever a ballot has not been counted but
has been rejected for any reason, the election officers shall make the required
notation on the absentee ballot tally sheet and shall note the number of ballots
so rejected on the certificates of election.
A.
Any affidavit required under this chapter may
be taken before any person with authority to administer oaths and affirmations
in the place where such affidavit may be taken, and whenever taken outside
this state, the authority of such person shall be conclusively presumed.
B.
Any affidavit required under this chapter,
when made by an elector in the armed forces or merchant marine of the United
States, or by persons serving with the American Red Cross, the Society of
Friends and the United Service Organizations who are attached to and serving
with the armed forces of the United States, may be taken before a commissioned
or noncommissioned officer not below the rank of sergeant, or petty officer
in the armed forces of the United States, or any member of the merchant marine
of the United States properly designated for such purpose, or any other person
authorized to administer and attest oaths or affirmations, and whenever taken
outside the state, the authority of such person shall be conclusively presumed.
A.
The Absentee Ballot Clerk shall maintain records
providing for the prevention of fraud and to make possible the tracing and
detection of any attempt to do so. Such records shall include the following
entries: The name of the elector; the address at which he/she is registered;
the address where the ballot is to be mailed; the date the affidavit is received
by the Absentee Ballot Clerk; the voucher number; the date the ballot is mailed
or delivered to the elector; the date the ballot is returned; the names of
any physicians executing affidavits for sick or disabled person; and the names
of all officers administering oaths for all affidavits received.
B.
The Absentee Ballot Clerk shall compile a list
of names and addresses of all applicants for absentee ballots and shall make
sure the lists are available to all candidates.
