Delaware
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In a state with a population of about 885,000, today's bruising Republican primary races hinge on about 30,000 people, more of less, who are registered and ready to vote.

It's just one of the peculiarities of elections in the First State, where unique laws and a relatively small voter pool can make for suspenseful political theater, such as Gov. Jack Markell's 2008 primary victory over the party's endorsed candidate, John C. Carney.

Republican Christine O'Donnell is hoping for a similar outcome today in her quest to beat Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Castle in his Senate bid. So is Republican Glen Urquhart, who's running against endorsed Republican Michele Rollins for Castle's soon-to-be empty seat in the House.

There are 182,796 voters eligible to cast ballots in today's Republican primary, and election watchers and recent history project a turnout of between 14 percent (25,591 voters) and 20 percent (36,559).

The deadline to register to vote for the primary was Aug. 21 for new voters. Voters already registered had until March 30 to change their party affiliation.

Delaware's closed primary system gives a boost to motivated voters. Democrats vote in Democratic primaries, Republicans vote in Republican primaries, and the 146,212 voters who aren't Democrats or Republicans -- 23.5 percent of the electorate -- are shut out of the primary process.

That might seem odd to people from Texas, South Carolina and the 22 other states with open primaries, where all voters have a say in who winds up on the ballot in November.

Delaware State University political science professor Sam Hoff said the closed primary "may seem strange to some," but that it shows Delaware has "a pretty strong, durable party system."

"On turnout, the level is usually half of what it is in presidential elections," Hoff said. "That's always a concern because the winner ... might end up having 2 percent of the total support of the Republican Party and that bugs some people, but that's part of democracy."

It has been an interesting primary season for Republicans, who have seen two senators ousted by upstarts. In Alaska, Joe Miller claimed the nomination for Senate over incumbent Lisa Murkowski. Tea partiers also beat Utah Sen. Bob Bennett at a state convention in May.
The 2008 Markell-Carney race sparked an unusually high turnout for a Delaware primary: 28 percent of registered Democrats cast their ballots.

By contrast, in 2006, only 7 percent of Republicans turned out to pick Jan Ting over Mike Protack and O'Donnell as the party's Senate candidate. The same year, just 8 percent of Democrats cast their votes in the U.S. House primary race between Karen Hartley-Nagle and Dennis Spivak. Previous primary turnouts generally ranged from 8 percent to 14 percent.

In addition, Delaware's primary system is "unique and somewhat strange" in holding its nominating conventions first, followed by primaries, Hoff said. In presidential races, the primaries and caucuses come first, followed by the convention.

Delaware also is unusual in holding its primary so late in the game. Residents of other states vote in primaries as early as March, but only one state -- Hawaii -- holds its primary after Delaware's. Seven other states hold primaries today.

Delaware's late primary makes it tough on the winning candidates, who have only a narrow window of opportunity to court the general electorate after having to woo the party faithful throughout the summer.

Those quirks seem mild compared with some of the state's more arcane election laws.

For instance, Delawareans who are qualified to vote in today's primaries don't have to worry about getting a speeding ticket -- in theory, anyway.

According to the Delaware Constitution, voters going to and from the polls are immune from arrest unless they commit "treason, felony or breach of the peace."

But you'd better leave that six-pack of beer at home. Bringing alcohol to a polling place during a primary election could get you a minimum $5 fine.

It's also against the law to aid, counsel or abet "any armed soldier to be present at any voting place in this State or within 5 miles thereof." Violators face up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine and a lifetime revocation of the right to vote.

That one has its roots in the Civil War, when armed Union troops were stationed at some Delaware polling places. Democrats charged it was an attempt by Republicans to keep Democrats from the polls. If it was, it didn't do much good for Republican Abraham Lincoln, who lost Delaware in 1860 and again in 1864.
Don't look for Delaware's racinos to handle bets on the outcome of an election. A law that dates back to at least 1852 makes those who handle an election-related bet subject to lawsuits.

According to the law, any intermediary who distributes the proceeds of an election bet "shall forfeit and pay to any person who will sue for the same, double the amount of such wager or bet or double the value of the thing betted."

While most of Delaware's arcane election laws rarely come into play, others linger on the books that were invalidated by federal law or the U.S. Supreme Court long ago.

The state constitution still contains a provision limiting the vote to citizens 21 and older, even though the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution extended it to 18-year-olds in 1971.

A move to update the state constitution on that point failed this year. Senate Bill 154 passed the Senate but didn't make it to the House floor before the June 30 adjournment deadline.

Another provision of the state constitution says a person cannot vote "unless he or she shall be able to read this Constitution in the English language and write his or her name."

That harks back to the day of the literacy test, which many states used to disqualify minority voters before the practice was outlawed in the 1960s.

Although the General Assembly appears to be in no hurry to officially extend the franchise to 18-year-olds, this year it did get around to ratifying the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

That amendment, which requires that U.S. senators be elected by popular vote, took effect April 8, 1913.

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