Absentees

The Delaware Department of Elections started scanning absentee ballots Oct. 11 at 10 a.m. with "challengers" from both parties checking for potential errors.

GEORGETOWN, Del. - The Delaware Department of Elections started scanning absentee ballots Oct. 11 at 10 a.m.

Volunteers acting as "challengers" from both parties checked for errors. They scanned for the signature, the time stamp, and the address, among other things. The department isn't actually registering who anyone is voting for yet; just counting the number of absentee ballots coming in.

Tracey Wilkerson, a republican, is the Deputy County Director.

"So people feel secure in how our absentee ballot process works in Delaware, so it's very important. We have teams in there that are of opposite parties. It's important that that's balanced when we're doing the whole process." 

Kenneth "Bo" McDowell, a democrat, is the County Director.

"It's good for the citizens to get out and see for themselves what we're all about and that there's nothing to hide and that we're totally out in the open with everything."

McDowell says if they do find discrepancies on the ballot, they follow up with the voter and do a detailed investigation. 

The Department of Elections says they are seeing about 500 absentee ballots come back each day. Next week, they will begin the scanning process to start counting those ballots, as well as the ones that continue coming in.

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Emma Aken joined CoastTV News in July of 2024, after graduating from Penn State with a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a minor in business. While at CoastTV, she’s reported on everything from breaking news, continued investigative coverage, spot news, development stories and a variety of other local issues.

Emma is currently the Weekend Anchor, producing and anchoring the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts on Saturdays and Sundays. While at Penn State, she was involved in Penn State Network News, where she grew even more passionate about the news industry. Emma is from Rochester, New York. She loves summer, traveling and spending time with her friends and family. For as long as she can remember, Emma has enjoyed writing, filming and storytelling. She is honored to tell the stories of those along the coast.

To contact her with story ideas, email her at eaken@wrde.com.

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