EAIElectoral Access Index

This section codifies in statute the State Board of Elections' independence through multiple procedural safeguards: (1) balanced political composition is mandated (each major party must have at least 5 members and equal representation across geographic units); (2) appointment involves multiple branches (Governor appoints, but Senate must consent); (3) fixed terms are specified (initial 2- or 4-year appointments, then 4-year terms); and (4) nomination by political party chairs constrains gubernatorial discretion. These elements together create structural independence from unilateral executive control.

“The State Board of Elections shall consist of 11 members, including 2 members from Sussex County; 2 members from Kent County; 2 members from New Castle County; 2 members from the City of Wilmington; 2 at-large members; and the State Election Commissioner, who shall serve as an ex officio member subject to the limitations set forth in § 302 of this title. Each of the 2 principal political parties shall be represented at all times by not fewer than 5 members and at all times both principal political parties shall have equal representation in each county, in the City of Wilmington, and among the at-large members.”

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: This statute confirms that presidential electors, U.S. Senator, and U.S. Representative voting rights follow the same qualifications as votes for the General Assembly, but it does not itself set minimum age and residency requirements—it merely cross-references or defers to existing qualifications. The criterion requires these requirements to be set in the CONSTITUTION, not statute alone. This section is statutory language that does not independently establish or cite constitutional provisions for age and residency.

The section establishes statutory disqualification criteria (felony convictions with undischarged sentences) and provides a restoration procedure (permit registration once sentences are fully discharged). However, the statute does not enumerat which specific felonies ARE disqualifying or define the duration of disqualification; it only references "constitutional requirements" without full codification. The cure/restoration pathway is statutory but delegated to the Department of Correction's factual determination.

“Where it has been determined that the applicant was convicted of a felony which is not disqualifying, has fully discharged all imposed sentences, and otherwise meets all constitutional requirements, the applicant shall be permitted to register as a qualified voter.”

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Section 2014 addresses voter registration application rejection notification, address verification for returned mail, and inactive status procedures—not restoration of voting rights after loss due to felony conviction or other disqualifying events. The section does not codify any procedure for restoring voting rights post-felony, establish statutory deadlines for restoration, or provide for automatic restoration. A different statute (likely § 2011 or related eligibility provisions) would govern felony disenfranchisement and restoration procedures.

The statute explicitly requires proof of identity and address and enumerates acceptable forms in statute, meeting the statutory-grounding criterion. The requirement is set by statute (not left to regulation or administrative discretion), and both acceptable photo and non-photo options are listed, along with a fallback personal-recognition provision (subsection e). This satisfies the procedural-clarity standard.

The statute exhaustively enumerates acceptable identification forms for mail-in registration: a current and valid photo ID, or one of five specific documentary alternatives (utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document showing name and address). The list is closed and leaves no discretion to administrators to accept other forms. The procedure is set in statute, enumerated concretely, and applicable across the state.

“a copy of a current and valid photo identification or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter”

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: This section addresses voter instruction materials, sample ballots, and their distribution. It contains no statutory provision regarding government-issued identification requirements, free alternative ID, or any identification-related procedures. The criterion applies only when ID is required by statute; this section does not engage that topic at all.

The statute provides a provisional ballot mechanism for voters whose eligibility cannot be determined (§ 4948(b)) and permits voters to vote provisionally even without proof of identity (§ 4948(c)). However, the statute does NOT define a cure procedure allowing such voters to later supply ID to cure the defect. Instead, § 4948(h)(6) mandates that provisional ballots cast without suitable identification are simply set aside and not tallied—effectively disenfranchising the voter with no remedy. A statutory cure procedure would require the voter to have an opportunity to provide ID after the election to validate the ballot, but this statute contemplates only rejection.

“Where the person who voted by provisional ballot did not show suitable identification at the polling place, the ballot shall be set aside, not opened and the votes not tallied.”

No matching sections in corpus.

The statute explicitly defines the registration deadline as a fixed, enumerated temporal rule (the third Monday prior to election day) rather than leaving it to administrative discretion. The deadline is clear, navigable, and directly codified in statute.

“The deadline for the Department to receive an application to register to vote under the provisions of this chapter is the third Monday prior to a primary or general election.”

This section exhaustively enumerates a specific registration method—automatic voter registration triggered at the Division of Motor Vehicles during designated transactions (license issuance, renewal, and address/name changes). The statute precisely defines the trigger events and the data-transfer procedure, establishing motor-voter automatic registration as a statutorily grounded, enumerated registration pathway with clear eligibility and notice requirements.

The statute establishes a clear, statutorily-grounded cure procedure: the Commissioner must identify deficiencies in writing, and the candidate receives a defined window (the later of the filing deadline or 7 days from notice) to remedy them. This satisfies the procedural-clarity criterion for cure—the process is enumerated, time-bound, and mandatory for the administrator.

The statute explicitly grants any interested person (including a voter whose registration is refused or removed) a statutory right to appeal such decisions to the court. The appeal right is codified in statute, enumerated to cover both refusal of registration and removal from records, and includes a defined appeal path (to the Resident Judge or Supreme Court judge). This satisfies the procedural-clarity criterion.

“From the decision of the Department or the registration officers granting or refusing registration or removing or refusing to remove names from the registration records, any person interested or any member of such Department or any registration officer may appeal to the court.”

The statute explicitly defines removal criteria in three contexts: (1) change of address via undeliverable mail triggers an address verification procedure; (2) failure to respond within 60 days results in 'inactive status'; (3) remaining inactive for 2 consecutive general elections triggers removal. All three removal pathways are enumerated in statutory text with specific procedural triggers and timelines, not delegated to regulatory discretion.

The statute establishes a clear, mandatory notice-and-cure procedure: forwardable first-class mail notice must be sent, voters are given 60 days to respond by returning a postage-paid card, and responses trigger specific documented actions (cancellation, address update, or reinstatement to active status). Even if no response is received, voters enter "inactive status" (not immediate removal) and retain voting rights upon affirmation at the polling place, with a further 2-general-election grace period before final removal. All procedures are statutorily enumerated, not left to administrative discretion.

§1303 provides statutory prohibition on unauthorized disclosure of confidential addresses and breach notification after disclosure (subsection (b)(2)), but does NOT codify encryption requirements, systematic access logs, or a comprehensive data security regime for the voter registry generally. The section addresses confidentiality protections for a specific subset of voter data (confidential addresses) rather than the broad data-security infrastructure—encryption standards, breach-reporting timelines for other data types, audit trails, etc.—that the criterion requires.

“It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly to obtain or disclose any address from voter records that is rendered confidential for any use not permitted under this section.”

No matching sections in corpus.

The statute clearly grants voters with disabilities the right to receive assistance from a person of their choosing and explicitly enumerates the exclusions (employer, employer's agents, union officers/agents). This rule is codified in statute rather than left to administrative discretion, and the categories of ineligible assistants are exhaustively defined.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: This section addresses the mechanical processing of mail ballots (opening envelopes, duplicating unreadable ballots, securing materials) but contains no procedure for assisting voters who cannot read during the voting process itself. The criterion requires codified assistance for illiterate voters with ballot-secrecy protections; this section deals entirely with post-election ballot preparation and does not establish voter assistance procedures.

The statute explicitly sets polling-place opening and closing hours (7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.) in mandatory language ('shall be'), removing administrative discretion and establishing the hours directly by statute rather than delegating to local officials.

“The time for opening the polls for the purpose of conducting a primary election shall be 7:00 in the morning, and the time for closing the polls at such primary election shall be 8:00 in the evening.”

This section codifies the mailing distribution timeline and eligibility confirmation in statute, which is a procedural element. However, the criterion requires the 'full procedure' including application, deadline, return, signature verification, and cure. This section addresses only the ballot distribution phase. The application requirement and deadline are referenced cross-sectionally to § 5604A, signature verification and cure procedures are referenced to other sections (§ 5607A and § 5606A), but are not enumerated here. A voter consulting this section alone cannot navigate the complete mail-in voting pathway.

“Upon receipt of the application for a mail ballot from an elector under § 5604A of this title, the Department shall process the same and confirm that the elector qualifies to vote under this title.”

Section 5525 codifies the absentee voting framework for UOCAVA-eligible voters in statute, including: (1) eligibility (federal UOCAVA applicants), (2) application mechanism (written request on federal post card application), (3) delivery method (electronic delivery within 3–5 business days), (4) return methods (postal mail, courier, or electronic), and (5) treatment requirements (signed oath and identification). All material procedural elements are statutorily enumerated rather than left to administrative discretion, though subsection (f) does delegate some procedural detail-setting to the State Election Commissioner.

The statute explicitly sets mandatory minimum hours (at least 8 hours daily), closing time (no earlier than 7 p.m.), and opening time requirements (by 7 a.m. on at least 5 days). These operational rules are enumerated in the statute itself rather than delegated to administrative discretion, establishing clear, binding procedural requirements for early voting location operations.

“The State Election Commissioner shall open the designated early voting locations for at least 8 hours on each day of early voting. (b) The State Election Commissioner shall close the designated early voting locations no earlier than 7 p.m. on each day of early voting and shall open the designated early voting locations by 7 a.m. on at least 5 of the early voting days.”

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: While the statute authorizes drop-box use and specifies that boxes must be 'secure' and in 'publicly accessible' locations within Department offices, it does not enumerate placement standards (e.g., distance from polling places, lighting, camera requirements), security specifications (e.g., lock types, tamper-evident seals, material standards), or chain-of-custody procedures (e.g., pickup frequency, documentation, witness requirements, log maintenance). These critical procedural elements are left to administrative discretion rather than statutory specification.

The section provides statutory grounding for the right to cast a provisional ballot (§4948(b)) and exhaustively enumerates the adjudication procedure: incomplete affidavits are rejected (§4948(h)(5)), lack of suitable ID results in rejection (§4948(h)(6)), unregistered or wrong-district voters are rejected (§4948(h)(7)), and ballots meeting criteria are tallied (§4948(h)(9)). Voters have notification rights within 30 days (§4948(i)(1)). The procedure is detailed, non-discretionary, and fully codified in statute.

“A person claiming to be properly registered in an election district, but whose eligibility to vote at that election district cannot be determined, shall be entitled to vote a provisional ballot. Election officers shall inform a person who is not being permitted to vote for whatever reason that the person may cast a provisional ballot in that election.”