CHAPTER 267
AN ACT TO AMEND AN ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE TOWN OF OCEAN VIEW IN SUSSEX COUNTY, DELAWARE", BEING CHAPTER 649, VOLUME 18, LAWS OF DELAWARE, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE COMPOSITION AND ELECTION OF THE TOWN COUNCIL OF OCEAN VIEW.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Delaware (two-thirds of all Members elected to each Branch thereof concurring therein):
Section 1. Chapter 649, Volume 18, Laws of Delaware, as amended, is further amended by striking out all of Section 2 of said chapter and inserting in lieu thereof a new Section 2 as follows:
Section 2 (a). The government of the Town and the exercise of all powers conferred by this Chapter, except as otherwise provided herein, shall be vested in a Town Council of the Town of Ocean View, to be composed of three members, one of whom shall be President of said Council, and all of whom shall be elected or chosen as hereinafter provided.
(b) Each of the said three Councilmen shall be of the age of twenty-one years or older, a non-delinquent taxable of said Town, and, at the time of his election and during his term of office, a resident freeholder of said Town. His ceasing to be such resident freeholder shall, ipso facto, vacate his office.
() The said Councilmen shall be elected at the annual town election by the qualified voters of the Town for terms of three years and until their respective successors shall be duly elected as hereinafter provided, and the President of the Town Council shall be elected, by and from the members of said Council at their first meeting after each annual town election, for the term of one year and until his successor shall be duly elected; but any Councilman or the President may be re-elected from time to time.
(d) The annual town election shall be held on the second Saturday in April in each year hereafter, from one o'clock to four o'clock in the afternoon, at such place in said Town as shall be designated by the Town Council. At least twenty days before the day of each such election, the Town Council shall give public notice of the date, time and place of holding such election, and of the final date, time and place for filing by candidates for the office of Councilman, by posting written or printed notices thereof in at least six of the most public places in said Town. Every citizen residing in said Town, who is twenty-one years of age or older and who is not delinquent in the payment of any tax levied against him by said Town, shall have the right to vote at such election.
() The present members of the Town Council of Ocean View and other officers now serving are hereby appointed to serve and shall continue to serve as the Councilmen and officers of said Town from and after the passage hereof until their respective successors are duly elected or chosen as provided herein.
At the annual town election to be held on the second Saturday in April, A. D. 1960, one Councilman shall be elected for the term of three years to succeed the expired term of Lloyd G. Daisey; and at the annual town election to be held on the second Saturday in April, A. D. 1961, one Councilman shall be elected for the term of three years to succeed the expired term of Paul L. Jackson; and at the annual town election to be held on the second Saturday in April, A. D. 1962, one Councilman shall be elected for the term of three years to succeed the expired term of John R. Hill, Sr.
Thereafter, at each annual town election, the successor of each Councilman whose term then expires shall be elected for the term of three years and until his successor shall be duly elected.
(a) The said annual town election shall be held under the supervision of an election Board consisting of the Alderman of said Town, who shall be the Inspector of Election, and two other adult citizens of said Town who shall be appointed by the Town Council at a meeting thereof to be held prior to said election and who shall be Clerks of the election. Any vacancy in said Election Board shall be filled by the remaining members of said board, but if they shall not agree or if they fail to do so, then the voters present may proceed to elect some one of their number to fill such vacancy. The Election Board shall be judges of the election and shall decide upon the legality of the votes offered.
The Inspector shall receive the ballots and deposit them in a box prepared for that purpose and the assisting officers or clerks shall keep a list of the persons voting. Upon the close of the election, the votes shall be read and counted publicly, and the person or persons receiving the highest number of votes shall be elected. In case of a tie vote, the Election Board shall determine the tie by lot.
The Election Board shall enter in a book provided for that purpose a minute of each election containing the name of the person or persons elected, shall subscribe the same, and, shall give to each person so elected a certificate of election with notice of the time and place of the next meeting of the Town Council. Said book containing such minutes shall be evidence in any court of law or equity. All ballots cast and the records of the election shall be preserved in the custody of the Election Board for a period of twenty days after the election.
(g) Every person desiring to be a candidate for the office of Councilman at said annual town election shall file with the Town Clerk or other clerk in charge, at the business office or headquarters of the Town Council, during the usual business hours and not later than five o'clock in the afternoon on the tenth day immediately preceding the day of said election, a written statement of such candidacy, signed by the candidate, and witnessed by two adult residents of the town. Any person whose candidacy has not been so filed shall not be deemed a candidate and his name shall not be entered on the ballot for said election.
(h) In case no candidate shall file for the office of Councilman that is to be filled at any annual town election, then the present incumbent of that office shall continue in office for the same term or period he would have served if he had been elected at said election. In case only one candidate shall file for any office of Councilman and there is no contest for any such office to be filled at any annual election, then the Town Council need not proceed further to hold such public election, but in that case the Town Council shall merely cause the Town Clerk to make and deliver to each such sole candidate on the day such election would otherwise have been held, a certificate of election with notice of the time and place of the next meeting of the Town Council, and thereupon such candidate shall be deemed duly elected to the office for which he filed.
(i) Before entering upon the duties of his or their office, the newly elected Councilman or Councilmen, as the case may be, shall be first duly sworn or affirmed, by the Alderman of said Town, to perform the duties of the office of Councilman with fidelity.
(j) In case of any vacancy created in the office of Councilman, either by death, resignation, loss of residence in the Town of Ocean View, or otherwise, the Town Council shall fill such vacancy for the residue of the whole term; provided, however, if the unexpired portion of the term of the office which is vacant shall be for more than one year, then the Town Council shall appoint some suitable person to serve until the next annual town election, at which time there shall be elected a suitable person to fill the then unexpired portion of the term of said office.
Approved May 18, 1960.