(a) Candidates for political parties who must file for election in accordance with § 3101 of this title, and who either receive the majority vote at the subsequent primary election or are unopposed in the party for the office for which the candidate has filed shall be considered nominated. (b) The presiding officer and secretary of the state convention or committee of each political party eligible to place candidates on the ballot shall submit certificates of nomination for electors of President and Vice-President of the United States together with the name of the candidates for President and Vice-President to the State Election Commissioner. (c) The presiding officer and secretary of the state convention or committee of each political party eligible to place candidates on the ballot may submit a candidate for federal and statewide offices by submitting a certificate of nomination to the State Election Commissioner: (1) For any office for which no candidate has filed in accordance with § 3101 of this title, or (2) For any office for which candidates are selected by the state nominating convention of a minor political party. (d) The presiding officer and secretary of the county committee of each political party eligible to place candidates on the ballot shall submit a certificate of nomination for candidates for the General Assembly and county and municipal offices to the Department office for the county in which the candidate resides, as follows: (1) For any office for which no candidate has filed in accordance with § 3101 of this title. (2) For any office for which candidates are selected by the state nominating convention of a minor political party. (e) For minor political parties not required to select candidates under Chapter 31 of this title, each party shall select its candidates at the party's state or county nominating convention held on or before August 1 in the year of a general election and shall file the certificates of nomination of the selected candidates within 10 business days of the nominating convention. To be removed from a general election ballot, the candidate must withdraw the certificate of nomination on or before 4:30 p.m. on the first Friday after the day the certificate of nomination is submitted. (f) Nominating certificates shall be in writing and, in each case, shall contain the name of each person nominated, the person's residence and the office for which the person is nominated, other than the names of the candidates for President and Vice-President for which no residence need be given. The persons making such certificates shall add to their signatures their respective places of residence and shall acknowledge such certificate before an officer duly authorized to take acknowledgments of deeds, and a certificate of such acknowledgment shall be fixed to the instrument. (g) No such state nominating convention shall have completed its business relative to such nominations until such time as 1 nominee for each of the aforesaid offices shall have received a vote greater than 50% of the total number of eligible delegate votes at such convention, which polled vote shall be considered final. (h) The State Election Commissioner shall verify that the nominations of candidates submitted to the State Election Commissioner and the eligibility of each political party to make such nominations conform to the requirements under this title. The Department offices shall do the same concerning certificates of nomination submitted to the offices. (i) The State Election Commissioner shall forthwith send a copy of each certificate of nomination submitted to the Commissioner to the Department offices. The Department offices shall forthwith send a copy of each certificate of nomination submitted to the offices to the State Election Commissioner. (j) Notwithstanding anything else set forth herein to the contrary, a candidate for office nominated by a party under this section upon the filing of a certificate of nomination must be a registered member of the party nominating such candidate at the time the certificate of nomination is filed, as shown on the voter rolls of the Department (except in the case of presidential and vice-presidential nominees, who need not be registered voters in the State). (k) All candidates for statewide office, the General Assembly, or any elected county office, who have not already obtained a criminal history background check under § 3106 of this title in the same general election year, must request a criminal history background check, no earlier than 90 days before the candidate filing deadline and no later than the filing deadline, from the State Bureau of Identification and provide proof that the criminal history background check has been requested before being nominated as a candidate. (1) A candidate will be considered a provisional candidate for election until the Commissioner has made the determination that the candidate is qualified under paragraph (k)(5) of this section. (2) The State Bureau of Identification must provide the Commissioner within 10 days of the State Bureau of Identification's receipt of the candidate's request a report of the candidate's criminal history record or a statement that the State Bureau of Identification Central Repository contains no information relating to the candidate. (3) The information received by the Commissioner from the State Bureau of Identification under this section is not a public record as defined under Chapter 100 of Title 29. (4) The criminal history background check must be paid for by the candidate but may be reimbursed to the candidate as an authorized campaign expenditure under this title. (5) The Commissioner must determine by October 1 of each general election year that a candidate is qualified under § 21 of Article II of the Delaware Constitution before accepting the certificate of nomination for a candidate under this section.
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