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SPONSOR: Rep. Miro & Sen. Bonini;

Reps. D. Short, Hensley, Outten, Peterman, Ramone, Wilson; Sens.
Hocker, Lavelle, Peterson, Pettyjohn, Simpson

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
148th GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HOUSE BILL NO. 155
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AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO QUALIFICATIONS OF VOTERS.

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6BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
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Section 1. Amend 1077, 1078, 1081 and 1082, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by
9strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
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1077. Qualified voters.

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Every citizen 18 years of age or over and a resident of the reorganized school district shall be eligible to vote at the

12school election in the reorganized school district in which that citizen resides, whether or not that citizen is at the time a
13registered voter for purposes of a general election.
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Only persons registered to vote pursuant to the provisions of Part II of Title 15 shall be permitted to vote at the

15school election in the school district in which that person resides.

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1078. Determination of qualifications of the voter.

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For the purpose of determining whether a person offering to vote at a school election is in fact the person he or she

18claims to be and is qualified to vote, that individual shall complete an affidavit, promulgated by the Commissioner of
19Elections, which shall affirm that the individual offering to vote is a qualified voter of the school district pursuant to 1077
20of this title. If it can be determined by a majority opinion of the inspector and both judges assigned to that polling place that
21the individual offering to vote has met the qualifications for that school election pursuant 1077 of this title, then said
22individual shall be permitted to vote. Otherwise, an election official shall require the person offering to vote to produce
23reasonable identification of himself or herself and their place of residence in the school district. The said identification may
24be:
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(1) Delaware driver's license;

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(2) Delaware ID card;

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(3) Work ID card with photo and address; or

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(4) U.S. postal material.

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If a vote is objected to for the reason that the person offering to vote is not qualified to vote in that school election,

30its admission or rejection shall be determined according to the opinion of a majority of the inspector and both judges
31assigned to that polling place.
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1078. Applicability of Title 15 procedures

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Procedures for determining qualifications of voters at polling places shall be consistent with those in Title 15 for

34the general election.

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1081. Official record.

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(a) The Commissioner of Elections, in consultation with the county Departments of Elections, shall promulgate a

37Voter Eligibility Affidavit for Public School Elections that all voters in public school elections shall complete before voting.
38The aforesaid affidavit shall be printed as a 1-part form. The Commissioner of Elections and the county Departments of
39Elections shall at least once every 2 years meet to review the Voter Eligibility Affidavit for Public School Elections. Upon
40approval of a new version of the affidavit, existing supplies of affidavits shall be used until exhausted.
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(b) As soon as possible after the close of a public school election the Department of Elections conducting the

42election shall check for persons who voted more than once by putting the completed Voter Eligibility Affidavits for Public
43School Elections into alphabetic order. The department shall refer any instances of persons voting more than once in a
44public school election to the Attorney General.
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(c) The Department of Elections conducting the election shall make the affidavits available to the respective school

46district upon request and at no cost. The Department may satisfy this requirement by providing a copy of the affidavits to
47the school district. School districts that receive affidavits from a department shall return them to the Department no later
48than 90 days after receiving them.
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(d) The affidavits and all other records of a public school election shall be retained for 5 years and then destroyed.

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1082. Procedure at the polling place.

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(a) Upon arriving at a polling place, a person shall complete a Voter Eligibility Affidavit for Public School

52Elections attesting to the voter's eligibility to vote in the public school election and then present the aforesaid affidavit and
53proof of the voter's identity and address as required in 1078 of this title to an election officer.
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(b) Upon being presented an affidavit and proof of the voter's identity by a person, the election officer shall then

55legibly print the name of the person onto a poll list, determine whether or not the person is eligible to vote in the election,
56and then annotate the affidavit as to whether or not the person shall be permitted to vote. If the person does not offer
57reasonable proof of identity and address as required in this section, the person may be permitted to vote by majority vote of
58the inspector and both judges. Poll lists created as required above shall be retained by the Department of Elections that
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59conducted the election for 1 year following the day of the election. At the end of the aforesaid year, the poll lists shall be
60destroyed.
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(c) If the election officer determines that the person is not eligible to vote in the election, the election officer shall

62refer the person to the inspector and both judges. The inspector and both judges after hearing and considering evidence
63shall by majority vote determine whether or not to permit the person to vote. Upon making the decision, the inspector shall
64appropriately annotate the affidavit and poll list. If the person is not permitted to vote, the inspector shall direct the person
65to depart the polling place and then the inspector shall file the affidavit in the appropriate place.
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(d) If a person's eligibility to vote is challenged by anyone for any reason, the inspector and both judges shall

67immediately hear and consider the evidence and then by majority vote decide whether or not the person is eligible to vote.
68Once the inspector and both judges have made their decision, there is no appeal at the polling place. The person shall either
69be permitted to vote, or shall not be permitted to vote and directed to depart the polling place. A person who has not been
70permitted to vote may appeal the decision of the inspector and both judges to the administrative director or, in the
71administrative director's absence, to the deputy administrative director for the Department of Elections conducting the
72election.
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(e) Upon hearing the evidence of an appeal by a voter, the administrative director or deputy administrative director

74for the Department of Elections conducting the election shall rule on the appeal. A person whose appeal is successful shall
75be permitted to vote at the polling place or by absentee ballot at the Department of Elections conducting the election.
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SYNOPSIS

This Act requires that those voting in school board elections and school tax elections and school bond elections be
registered voters eligible to vote in general elections. Currently, any resident of the school district is eligible to vote in
school elections.
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