Wilmington DE – The Department of Elections for New Castle County issues an assessment of Delaware’s Election System in relation to the key recommendations of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration.
The key recommendations cover Voter Registration, Access to the Polls, Polling Place Management and Voting Technology. Delaware stacks up very well relative to the Commission’s key recommendations.
Delaware has both online voter registration and exchanges registration data with other states through the Electronic Information Registration Center as recommended by the Commission. The current online registration system requires a person to print, sign and mail his/her application. An improved system will be online by the end of April. The ERIC system has given the Departments of Elections more powerful tools to maintain the list of registered voters.
The Commission recommends that States give voters ways to vote before Election Day and use schools as Polling Places. Delaware offers absentee voting. Only 4.99% of the people who voted in the 2012 General Election voted by absentee ballot. Delaware does use schools as Polling Places. Schools are closed on the day of the General Election, but are open for Primaries and school elections. The recommendation regarding using schools as Polling Places also says that in the interest of security that schools should schedule an in-service day on Election Days.
Delaware has a resource allocator as recommended by the Commission for assigning voting machines and poll workers in the Delaware Code. It works well.
The Voting Technology recommendation concerns national issues that will impact Delaware in the future, but about which the State can do little.
The Department will issue further assessments of all of the recommendations and best practices in the Commission’s Report.
Contact: Howard G. Sholl, Jr., Department of Elections for New Castle County, Phone: (302) 577-3464.