[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Georgetown 3-22-1989 by Ord. No. 900. Amendments noted where applicable.]
Any qualified voter of the Town of Georgetown who shall be unable to appear to cast his or her ballot on the day of any Annual Municipal Election at the regular polling place in the Town of Georgetown for any of the following reasons shall be entitled to cast an absentee ballot and to have his or her vote counted:
A. 
Because such person is in the public service of the United States or of the state temporarily residing outside the corporate limits of the Town.
B. 
Because such person is the spouse of a person in the public service of the United States or of the state temporarily residing outside of the corporate limits of the Town.
C. 
Because such person is unavoidably absent from the Town on the day of the Annual Municipal Election.
D. 
Because such person is sick or physically disabled.
[Added 4-25-1990 by Ord. No. 900A]
E. 
Because such person is absent from the Town while on vacation.
[Added 4-25-1990 by Ord. No. 900A]
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 or her religion.
[Added 4-25-1990 by Ord. No. 900A]
Any voter desiring to obtain an absentee ballot because of any of the reasons set forth in § 39-1 above shall file or cause to be filed with the Town Manager of the Town of Georgetown an affidavit, subscribed and sworn to before an officer authorized to administer oaths, and dated not earlier than 30 days nor later than the day before the next ensuing Annual Municipal Election, setting forth the reason why such person needs to vote by absentee ballot. Such affidavit shall be filed with the Town Manager of the Town of Georgetown not later than 12:00 noon, prevailing time, on the day immediately preceding the day of the next ensuing Annual Municipal Election before the Town Manager shall mail or deliver to the voter the official ballot.
Upon receipt from a voter of the affidavit as required by the provisions of § 39-2 above, the Town Manager of the Town of Georgetown, not more than 30 days nor less than one day prior to the Annual Municipal Election and within three days after the ballots, envelopes and instructions for absentee voters become available, shall mail to the voter, postage prepaid, or deliver personally to the voter an official ballot enclosed in an official envelope and a copy of the instructions to absentee voters. Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the issuance of an absentee ballot to those lawfully entitled thereto prior to 12:00 noon, prevailing time, on the day prior to the Annual Municipal Election.
[Amended 4-23-1998]
Each applicant for an absentee ballot shall file an affidavit in substantially the following form:
"I do solemnly swear (affirm) that I am a resident of the Town of Georgetown and have resided there at least _______________ years preceding the date of the Annual Municipal Election in which this ballot is to be voted; and my local address is ______________________________________________in Georgetown.
That I will be absent from the Town of Georgetown on the day of the Annual Municipal Election because of ( ) being in the public service of the United States or of this state, ( ) being the spouse of a person in the public service of the United States or of this state, ( ) being unavoidably absent from the Town, ( ) being sick or physically disabled, ( ) being on vacation, ( ) being unable to vote at a certain time or day due to the tenets or teachings of my religion, I cannot appear at the polling place of the Town of Georgetown in which I am a qualified voter and for the reason indicated I request an absentee ballot."
Signature of voter
SWORN TO AND SUBSCRIBED before me, this _______________ day of ___________________________________, A.D. ____.
Notary Public
[Amended 4-23-1998]
Upon receipt by the Town Manager of the affidavit in substantially the form set forth in § 39-4 above, the Town Manager shall deliver or mail with postage prepaid to the voter who has applied for an absentee ballot an official ballot and an official envelope. The Town Manager shall place a label on the front of the official envelope which contains the absentee voter's name and address. There shall be printed out on the face of the official envelope a self-administered affidavit in substantially the following form:
"I do solemnly swear (affirm) that I am a resident of the Town of Georgetown, State of Delaware, and that my voting address is as it appears on this label. I do solemnly swear (affirm) under penalty of perjury that I have not received or accepted, or offered to receive or accept, any money or other item of value as compensation, inducement or reward for the giving or withholding of a vote at the Annual Municipal Election, nor that I am acting under duress or threat of duress or harm.
I do solemnly swear (affirm) that I marked my ballot in secret."
Signature of voter
[Amended 4-23-1998]
The absentee voter shall make and subscribe to the self-administered affidavit printed on the official envelope, and such voter shall thereupon mark his or her ballot in such a manner that no person can know how the ballot is marked, and the ballot shall then be deposited by the voter in the official envelope and securely sealed. Thereupon, the official envelope containing the marked ballot shall be delivered to the Town Manager or mailed to the Town Manager with postage prepaid. In either case, the ballot must be received by the Town Manager of the Town of Georgetown before the close of business on the day immediately preceding the day of the Annual Municipal Election and not thereafter.
Any absentee ballot received by the Town Manager of the Town of Georgetown after the close of business on the day before the Annual Municipal Election shall not be forwarded to the Board of Election, but the Town Manager shall endorse on the official envelope containing such ballot the time such was received and should retain all such ballots unopened and so endorsed until the last day of July next after the Annual Municipal Election, and longer if directed to do so by proper authority.
Upon receipt of the official envelope from the absentee voter, the Town Manager shall forthwith enclose the official envelope as received by him and unopened in a special carrier envelope, the Town Manager having first written his or her usual signature on the special carrier envelope. The Town Manager shall forthwith securely seal the special carrier envelope, and in ink the Town Manager shall write his or her full name thereon in the proper place as indicated herein and shall securely keep the same in his or her office until delivered as required herein. Neither the Mayor nor any member of the Town Council of the Town of Georgetown nor any other person shall open or attempt to open the official envelope containing the ballot of the absentee voter or to change or alter, or attempt to do so, the envelope or any writing, printing or anything whatsoever thereon.
When an absentee voter's ballot is received by the Town Manager, the official envelope containing the marked ballot, sealed in a special carrier envelope of the Town of Georgetown, shall be enclosed and sealed in a package and safely kept in his or her office until the day of the election and delivered to the Board of Election after the opening of the polls on the election and at least one hour before the closing of the polls. The Town Manager shall deliver all such absentee voter's ballots separately enclosed in a special carrier envelope to the Board of Election at the polls.
The Board of Election shall refuse to receive any absentee voter's ballot from any person other than the Town Manager or a duly authorized agent of the Town Manager and shall receive no other ballots other than those ballots enclosed in the sealed package delivered by the Town Manager to the Board of Election, and shall refuse to receive or act upon any such ballot that is not enclosed in an envelope bearing the signature, in ink, of the Town Manager, as required herein.
At any time between the opening and closing of the polls on the day of the Annual Municipal Election, the inspector shall open the package delivered by the Town Manager and ascertain the name of the absentee voter as appears by the executed affidavit of the absentee voter on the official envelope enclosing the marked ballot, whereupon he or she shall announce the absentee voter's name for the purpose of challenging and upon the determination that such person is a duly qualified voter of the Town of Georgetown and that such person has not voted in person at the Annual Municipal Election, he or she shall open the official 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 shall take therefrom the official ballot. The name and address of the absentee voter shall be entered on the poll list. The ballot shall then be voted by depositing same 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 manner as if the voter had appeared to cast his vote in person. All official envelopes from which ballots have been taken and voted and all official envelopes containing ballots which have been rejected or endorsed as provided by this chapter shall be preserved by the Board of Election, and the close of the count shall be locked in the ballot box.
The vote of any absentee voter may be challenged for cause and, further, the vote of any absentee voter may be challenged on the ground that the affidavit filed by the voter in accordance with the provisions herein is false or that the voter who was allegedly absent from the Town of Georgetown was not absent from the Town of Georgetown for the entire time the polls were open on the day of the Annual Municipal Election. Upon challenge, proceedings shall be as in the case of other challenges.
In case the affidavit of the absentee voter is found to be insufficient or the absentee voter is not a duly qualified voter of the Town of Georgetown or the official envelope is opened or has been opened and resealed or it is evident that the official envelope has been tampered with or altered or such ballot has been forwarded to the polls by someone other than the Town Manager of the Town of Georgetown or his or her duly authorized agent, such vote shall not be accepted or counted. If the official envelope has not been opened at the time the Board of Election decides that the altered ballot contained therein should be rejected for any of the foregoing reasons, it shall not be opened by the Board of Election, but they shall endorse thereon "rejected" (giving the reason therefore) and that the official envelope has not been opened and the ballot rejected; the official envelope containing the ballot shall be replaced in the same carrier envelope in which it was taken and the election officer shall endorse on that envelope "rejected" (giving the reason therefore). If the official envelope has been opened and the ballot is rejected, the Board of Election shall endorse thereon "rejected" (giving the reason therefore) and that the official envelope has been opened and the ballot rejected; the official envelope containing the ballot shall be replaced in the same carrier envelope in which it was taken and the election officer shall endorse on that envelope "rejected" (giving the reason therefore). Whenever it is made to appear by due proof to the Board of Election that any absentee voter who has marked and forwarded his or her ballot has died, the official 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.
A. 
The Town Council of the Town of Georgetown shall cause to be provided a Register of Absentee voters providing for the following entries and such other entries as the Town of Georgetown shall deem proper to prevent fraud and to make possible the tracing and detection of any attempt to do so.:
Request received from ___________________________________ of ______________________ by mail _____________ in person; ____________ ballot and official envelope number ___________ mailed to applicant on _____________ or ballot and official envelope delivered to ________________ on ____________________; marked ballot sealed in package of official ballots; marked ballot forward to polls ________________________________;
B. 
The Town Council of the Town of Georgetown shall also provide a space in the register and shall note thereon the date on which the Town Manager received the affidavit requesting an official ballot as provided by this chapter. The Town Manager shall compile from the register a list of names and addresses of all applicants for absentee ballots and shall send current and complete copies thereof, without cost, to all candidates on the ballot in the forthcoming Annual Municipal Election. Such list shall be made available to the candidates during the two weeks before the Annual Municipal Election, such information to be recorded by the candidates from the daily records of the Town Manager with the cooperation and assistance of the Town Manager.
A. 
Whoever willfully files a false affidavit under the provisions of this chapter shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $50 nor more than $200 or imprisoned for a period of not more than 30 days, or both, and shall pay the costs of prosecution.
B. 
Whoever, other than the Board of Election, on the day of the Annual Municipal Election and at the polls opens or attempts to open any sealed official envelope, or whoever prints or causes to be printed on an envelope identical or purportedly similar to the official envelope or the special envelope from the Town of Georgetown, other than the printing of such envelopes by the official printer selected by the Town of Georgetown for the printing of such envelopes pursuant to the provisions herein, or whoever abets or aids or attempts to abet or aid any fraud in connection with any vote cast or to be cast under the provisions herein shall be imprisoned for a term of not less than 15 days nor more than 30 days.
C. 
Whoever fraudulently signs the name of a voter on any affidavit or official envelope or of the Town Manager of the Town of Georgetown on any envelope provided for herein shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than $50 nor more than $100 or imprisoned for a period of not more than 30 days, or both, and shall pay the costs of prosecution.
D. 
Whoever, being a member of the Board of Election or other public official of the Town of Georgetown, knowingly violates any of the provisions of this chapter and thereby aids in any way the illegal casting of a vote or attempting to cast a vote or whoever connives to nullify any provision therein in order that fraud may be perpetrated shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500 or imprisoned for a term not less than 15 days nor more than 30 days, or both, and shall pay the costs of prosecution.
[Added 10-9-2013 by Ord. No. 2013-14]
A. 
Voter qualifications. Pursuant to the Town Charter, any person shall be qualified to vote who, on the date of the elections, is:
(1) 
A United States citizen;
(2) 
Has attained 18 years of age;
(3) 
Is a bona fide resident of the Town, as defined in Section 3.2(g) of the Charter. A person is a "bona fide resident" of the Town when he/she physically resides within the corporate limits of the Town and continues to make that residence his/her fixed and permanent home.
(4) 
Has not been adjudged a mentally incompetent person by a court of competent jurisdiction;
(5) 
Has not been disenfranchised pursuant to §§ 3 or 7 of Article V of the Constitution of the State of Delaware.
B. 
At such Annual Municipal Election, every person, male or female, who meets the requirements of the voter qualifications shall have one vote, provided he or she is registered on the "Books of Registered Voters" of the Town of Georgetown.
C. 
No person shall be registered upon the Books of Registered Voters unless he or she will have acquired the qualifications to vote in the Annual Municipal Election for the year in which he or she registers.
D. 
A person may register at the office of the Town Manager during the regular business hours of such office until the close of business of such office on the last Friday in April prior to the date of the Annual Municipal Election by completing such forms as may be provided by the Town.
E. 
A person shall be required to register only one time.
F. 
The Books of Registered Voters shall be maintained in the office of the Town Manager and shall be conclusive evidence of the right of any person to vote at the Annual Municipal Election.