§ 4502. Form and designation of ballots

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DE ST TI 15 § 4502West's Delaware Code AnnotatedTitle 15. ElectionsEffective: July 22, 2022 (Approx. 3 pages)

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§ 4502. Form and designation of ballots

DE ST TI 15 § 4502West's Delaware Code AnnotatedTitle 15. ElectionsEffective: July 22, 2022 (Approx. 3 pages)

West's Delaware Code Annotated

Title 15. Elections

Part IV. General Elections

Chapter 45. Ballots, Election Supplies and Polling Places

Effective: July 22, 2022

15 Del.C. § 4502

§ 4502. Form and designation of ballots

Currentness

(a)(1) For each election, the party emblem adopted by each political party and its name shall appear on the ballot with the names of its candidates, arranged in line with the titles of the offices for which they are contesting, along with space for the voter to write in the name of any candidate of that voter's choice, as prescribed under § 5005A(b) of this title.

(2) In those years in which a President and Vice President of the United States are to be elected, the ballot must be designated “Presidential, Vice Presidential, State, County, and District Ballot”; in other years, the ballot must be designated “State, County, and District Ballot”.

(3) The names of all candidates of any party must be placed under the title and device of such party as designated in the certificate filed with the Department by the party's authorized agent or, if none is designated, under some suitable title or device to be selected by the Department.

(4) When a President and Vice President are to be elected, the names of the candidates for those offices must be placed at the top of the list of candidates for all offices to be voted upon.

(5) The device named and chosen and the lists of candidates of the Democratic Party must be placed in the first column on the left-hand side of the ballot, of the Republican Party in the second column, and of any other party, and the space for the voter to write in the name of any candidate of that voter's choice for any office, in such order as the Department decides.

(6) The names of unaffiliated candidates must appear in alphabetical order, under the heading “Unaffiliated Candidates”, after the listing of various political parties.

(b) All ballots for the same election shall be of uniform size, of the same quality and color of paper and sufficiently thick that the printing cannot be distinguished from the back. The arrangement of the ballots shall in general conform, as nearly as possible, to the sample ballot set forth in this section.

(c) The ballots prepared in accordance with this chapter shall conform as far as possible to the following design except that the write-in column may be placed on either side of the ballot.

OFFICIAL BALLOT
Presidential, Vice Presidential, State,
County and District Ballot

		PARTY	PARTY	PARTY
		EMBLEM	EMBLEM	EMBLEM
WRITE IN		Name of Party	Name of Party	Name of Party


	For President	JOHN DOE	JOHN DOE	JOHN DOE


	For Vice President	JOHN DOE	JOHN DOE	JOHN DOE


	For United States Senator	JOHN DOE	JOHN DOE	JOHN DOE


	For Representative in Congress	JOHN DOE	JOHN DOE	JOHN DOE


	For Governor	JOHN DOE	JOHN DOE	JOHN DOE


	For Lieutenant Governor	JOHN DOE	JOHN DOE	JOHN DOE

(d) Absentee or mail ballots may be laid out with candidate names under an office title. If this form is used, party logos are not to be used and the political party of each candidate shall be listed beside or below the name of each candidate. The candidates shall be listed in the order specified in subsection (a) of this section. Except, that in a primary election the candidates shall be listed in alphabetic order and the political party shall be listed for each office.

(e) If the number of candidates, offices and/or parties to be listed on the ballot preclude the layout of a ballot as specified in this section, the Department of Elections shall obtain approval of the State Election Commissioner to lay out the ballot in a manner best suited to the number of candidates, offices and/or parties eligible to be placed on the ballot.

Credits

19 Laws 1891, ch. 37, § 8. Amended by 20 Laws 1897, ch. 396, § 2; 27 Laws 1913, ch. 65, § 8; 28 Laws 1915, ch. 95; 43 Laws 1941, ch. 129, § 4; 44 Laws 1943, ch. 119, § 3; 45 Laws 1945, Sp. Sess., ch. 4, § 3; 47 Laws 1949, ch. 149, § 3; 59 Laws 1973, ch. 54, § 1; 61 Laws 1978, ch. 418, § 14; 61 Laws 1978, ch. 480, §§ 10, 11; 70 Laws 1995, ch. 186, § 1, eff. July 10, 1995; 70 Laws 1996, ch. 506, § 4, eff. July 12, 1996; 77 Laws 2010, ch. 227, §§ 2, 46-48, eff. Feb. 1, 2010; 82 Laws 2019, ch. 170, § 14, eff. July 30, 2019; 82 Laws 2020, ch. 245, § 2, eff. July 1, 2020; 82 Laws 2020, ch. 245, § 4, eff. Jan. 12, 2021; 83 Laws 2022, ch. 353, § 2, eff. July 22, 2022.

Codifications: Rev. Stat. Del. 1915, §§ 1725, 1725A; Rev. Code Del. 1935, § 1814; 15 Del.C. 1953, § 4502

15 Del.C. § 4502, DE ST TI 15 § 4502

Current through ch. 269 of the 152nd General Assembly (2023-2024). Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details. Revisions to 2024 Acts by the Delaware Code Revisors were unavailable at the time of publication.

End of Document

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