I agree 100%. I alluded to this with the nuclear gnat-killing analogy.

All you have to do is regulate according to whether there is any spending by or on behalf of a candidate to promote them in any manner in an election.

If you or anyone else on your behalf is spending money for anything promoting your name, likeness, or image as a political candidate for anything you would, past a certain $ amount, be obligated to report said spending in accordance with the campaign finance laws.

You don’t need to disenfranchise every person who might write in a candidate just to get that candidate to disclose campaign spending. This bill is total overkill.

Maybe if I had a bus tour and a megaphone this would sound better …

Yes, I think health care is more important but this bill is also because it should go away.

The points I think are worth a day in a hearing:

From bill-section one, paragraphs e, f, & h of section 3402:

(e) A person shall not declare himself/herself a write-in candidate if he/she is a candidate on the general election ballot.

(f) A person shall not declare himself/herself a write-in candidate for more than one office. The filing of a declaration for another office prior to the declaration deadline established in this chapter shall make any previous declaration null and void.
(forget about the second sentence in that paragraph, that would apply to something I say should be tossed)

(h) A declared write-in candidate shall comply with the requirements in Chapter 80 of this Title.
(Chapter 80 is campaign finance)

The entire section 2 and 3 of this bill (I believe it starts on line 42) are good, too:

Section 2. Amend Title 15, § 4972 of the Delaware Code by inserting as sub-sections (8) and (9) the following:

“(8) The misspelled, incomplete or minor variation of the name of a declared write-in candidate for an office shall be counted if the name as written bears a reasonable resemblance to the declared candidate’s name and no other declared write-in candidate for the office has a name so similar to the name as written as to leave a reasonable doubt as to the voter’s intention. Additionally, writing in the last name of a declared write-in candidate shall constitute a valid vote unless there are two or more candidates for that office with the same last name.
(this takes out that no-voters-intent b.s. that I harped about with people misspelling O’Donnell last year)

(9) Writing in the name of either candidate for President or Vice-President shall constitute a valid vote for the slate.”

Section 3. Amend Title 15, § 4976 of the Delaware Code by striking subsection (c) in its entirety and substituting in lieu thereof the following:

“(c) Two clerks shall account on separate Write-in Vote Tally Sheets for each write-in vote for an office for a candidate on the ballot for that office, a declared write-in candidate for the office or for all other write-in votes for the office as Other Write-in Candidates.”
(take out the differentiation of declared and other and this is fine).

There that is. It isn’t always fun or easy to read through these bills…reading the constitution is more fun, trust me.

Tyler – if you did find it, please tell me where, because my brain pretty much melted reading what appeared to be the pertinent sections.

TIA

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I admire your research-temperament.
I defer to TPN and hope he responds since he said it is unconstitutional (DE) today.

dayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyum

There is no Democratic or Republican Party in Delaware, only the Incumbent Party.