Delaware General Assembly


CHAPTER 166 - SMYRNA

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 192, VOLUME 36, LAWS OF DELAWARE, BEING AN ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT TO REINCORPORATE THE TOWN OF SMYRNA", BY PROVIDING FOR THE ELECTION OF A MAYOR AND COUNCIL AND BY CHANGING THE PRESENT OFFICE OF PRESIDENT OF COUNCIL TO MAYOR OF THE TOWN OF SMYRNA."

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met (two-thirds of all of the members elected to each branch of the Legislature concurring therein):

Section 1. That Chapter 192, Volume 36, Laws of Delaware, be amended by striking out all of Section 3 (Town Council, Qualifications, Term, Nomination and Election) and inserting in lieu thereof new Section 3 which shall be as follows, to-wit:

"Section 3. (Mayor, Council, Qualifications, Term, Nomination and Election): The government of said Town and the exercise of all the powers conferred by said Chapter 192 (except as otherwise provided) shall be vested in a Mayor and in a Town Council composed of four (4) members, all five of which officers shall be elected at large. The Mayor and members of Council shall be citizens of said Town at least twenty-one years of age and the owners of real estate within said Town duly assessed in their own names on the County and Town assessment lists in force when they are nominated. The term of the Mayor and the terms of all Councilmen shall be two years from the last Tuesday in February following their respective election and until their respective successors shall be duly elected and qualified.

At the annual town election on the last Monday in February in the year 1938 there shall be elected two (2) members of Council to succeed the two (2) members whose present terms will then expire, and at the annual town election on the last Monday in February in the year 1939 there shall be elected a Mayor and two (2) Councilmen to succeed the three (3) Councilmen whose present terms will then expire, and thereafter the successors of the Mayor and the Councilmen, whose terms will expire at the elections then held, shall be elected for the aforesaid term of two years each. The present members of Council and the incumbents of all other elective offices in said Town, who are duly elected and qualified at the time of the approval of this Act, shall continue in office until their respective present terms shall have expired.

The Mayor and the four (4) members of Council shall be nominated and elected as follows, to-wit: at least ten days before the day of election, as hereinafter fixed, nominations shall be filed with' the Mayor or with any Councilman. Such nominations shall be in writing, signed by the nominee or by five (5) other citizens of the Town, at least two of whom shall be freeholders. Each nomination shall be presented to Council at a meeting to be held at the usual meeting place of Council not later than 8 o'clock P. M., on the evening of the last day for the filing of such nominations. Council shall cause to be printed ballots; at least as many in number as the number of citizens in said Town entitled to vote at the election. Such ballots shall contain the names of all persons nominated under headings designating the offices for which nominated, and such ballots shall be delivered to the persons appointed or selected to hold the election at the opening of the ballots and every qualified citizen calling for a ballot shall receive one from the persons holding the election. Voters may also prepare for themselves ballots, either printed or written, provided such ballots do not contain a name or names other than those nominated as aforesaid. Every citizen of said Town of the age of twenty-one years, or upwards, who has paid all Town taxes theretofore assessed to him, shall have the right to vote and persons otherwise qualified who have not been assessed and also persons arriving at the age of twenty-one years since the last town assessment, shall also have the right to vote. A voter shall not vote for more candidates than are to be elected at the election, and in voting shall cross out the names of all candidates which the voter does not desire to vote for.

Such election shall be held on the last Monday in February in each year hereafter at the Town Hall in said Town, or at such other convenient place in said Town as shall be designated by Council, and the polls shall be open from 2 o'clock P. M., until 5 o'clock P. M., Eastern Standard Time_. In case such election is to be held at some other place than the Town Hall, notice thereof, designating the place of election, shall be posted on the front door or the front window of the Town Hall at least ten days before the election. Every election shall be held under the superintendence of three qualified voters of said Town, to be appointed for that purpose by Council at least two weeks before election, but if at the opening of the polls, there shall not be present the three persons so appointed, or any one of them, in such case the persons entitled to vote and then present at the polls shall appoint, by viva voce vote, qualified voter or voters to act. The three persons holding the election shall pass upon the qualifications of voters and conduct the election, keeping a list of all voters voting and at the close of such election shall canvass the vote and the candidates having the highest number of votes for each office shall be declared elected and certificates shall be made out and delivered to the person or persons so elected. In case of a tie, the three persons holding the election shall, by a majority vote, decide which of the candidates so tied shall be elected.

Section 2. That Chapter 192, Volume 36, Laws of Delaware, be amended by striking out the first paragraph of Section 4 thereof and inserting in lieu thereof new first Paragraph of said Section 4 which shall be as follows, to-wit:

"Section 4: (Organization of Council.) On the evening of the next day following the annual election, Council shall meet with the Mayor and organize by election of a Secretary and a Clerk, both of whom shall be members of Council. Before entering upon the duties of their offices, the newly elected Mayor and members of Council shall be sworn, by a Notary Public, a Justice of the Peace, the hold-over Mayor or a hold-over member of Council, to faithfully and impartially perform the duties of their respective offices."

Section 3. That all of the duties and powers heretofore imposed and conferred upon the President of Council by Chapter 192, Volume 36, Laws of Delaware, and the right to vote on all matters before Council, be and the same hereby are imposed and conferred upon the Mayor of the Town of Smyrna, upon his election in the. year 1939 as provided for in Section 1 of this Act, and his successors in office thereafter. If the Mayor be incapacitated in the performance of the duties of his office, by reason of death, illness, absence or any other cause, then all powers and duties conferred upon him by this Act and by Chapter 192, Volume 36, Laws of Delaware, and by any other law, and by any ordinance or resolution now or hereafter enacted or adopted by Council, shall during said incapacity be 'exercised and performed by some member of Council, chosen by Council, as acting Mayor, and that all the duties and powers heretofore imposed and conferred upon the acting President of Council by Chapter 192, Volume 36, Laws of Delaware, be and the same are hereby imposed and conferred upon such acting Mayor.

Approved May 19, 1937.