SPONSOR:	Rep. Outten & Sen. Lawson

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 146th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 98

AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAWS OF DELAWARE RELATING TO THE CHARTER OF THE TOWN OF VIOLA.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each house thereof concurring therein):

Section 1.Amend the Charter of the Town of Viola, Volume 57, Chapter 50, Laws of Delaware, as amended, in Section 4 thereof by deleting the words "by the legally qualified voters present at the opening of the polls" in the second sentence of the first paragraph of Section 4 and by substituting in lieu thereof the words "by the Viola Board of Elections".

Section 2.Amend the Charter of the Town of Viola, Volume 57, Chapter 50, Laws of Delaware, as amended, in Section 4 thereof by deleting "twenty-one" in the second sentence of the second paragraph of Section 4 and by substituting in lieu thereof "eighteen".

Section 3.Amend the Charter of the Town of Viola, Volume 57, Chapter 50, Laws of Delaware, as amended, in Section 4 thereof by deleting the ninth sentence of the second paragraph of Section 4 which reads: "A written statement of a person's candidacy must be filed at least ten days prior to the said election.".

Section 4.Amend the Charter of the Town of Viola, Volume 57, Chapter 50, Laws of Delaware, as amended, in Section 4 thereof by adding the following at the end of Section 4:

"The Commissioners may (but shall not be required to), by ordinance, provide for a qualified voter who shall be unable to appear in person to cast his or her ballot at any municipal election by absentee ballot.".

SYNOPSIS

This bill is designed to update the Town of Viola Charter to conform with current practice and/or with State law regarding municipal elections.The bill (i) changes the method of selection for election judges (which correspond in State law to Election officers); (ii) provides that residents eighteen years old or older may vote in municipal elections; (iii) deletes an indicated deadline regarding filing of a statement of candidacy, in order to conform with State law, which requires that a Notice of Election, including names of candidates, must be posted no later than twenty days prior to an election, and (iv) provides that the governing body of the Town may, but is not required to, allow for the use of absentee ballots.