CHaP. 369.—An ACT to enable voters, required by their duties to be absent
from their voting precincts on the day of election, to vote bv regis-
tered mail. (H. B. 248.)

Approved March 20, 1916.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
any vo‘er, only when required by his regular business and
habitual duties, to be absent from the city or county and pre-
cinct in which he is registered may vote, provided—

2. He shall give notice in writing, of such intention, to the
registrar of his precinct, not less than thirty days nor more than
sixty days prior to the primary or general election in which he
desires to participate, if he be within the confines of the United
States; not less than sixty days or more than ninety days, if
he be in the Philippines, Hawaii, Porto Rico, the Canal zone, or
in touch with an American consulate in territory over which the
United States has no jurisdiction.

3. Letter of application for ballot shall be forwarded by
registered mail, and shall enclose postage, or the correct amount
in legal tender, necessary for the return of the blank ballot, and
full directions for proper return.

4. When the voter is not within the jurisdiction of the
United States, he shall direct return envelope in care of the
nearest American consulate, and when in service of army or
navy of his commanding officer.
5. Upon receipt of the registered letter, forwarded by the
registrar, as is hereinafter provided, the applicant shall not
open the sealed envelope marked “ballot within” except it be
in the presence of the postmaster or his assistant, and shall
then and there mark and refold the ballot without assistance
and without making known the manner of marking the same.
He shall then and there place the ballot within the envelope
provided for the purpose, as hereinafter provided, shall seal and
sign the voucher printed upon the envelope in the presence of
the postmaster or assistant, who shall witness the same in writ-
ing, as hereinafter provided, or in case of their refusal to wit-
ness the same it may be witnessed by any person qualified to
take acknowledgments of deeds. This envelope with the coupon,
hereinafter provided, shall be enclosed within the envelope
directed to the registrar, as hereinafter provided, shall then
and there be sealed and registered to the registrar, and the reg-
istration of same shall be the same date as the coupon enclosed.

6. An elector, receiving his ballot under the provisions of
section four, shall conform to all requirements of section five,
except that he shall sign and seal ballot in the presence of the
American consul or his assistant, if the letter was directed to
the consulate as provided in section four, preserving all the
secrecy of the ballot as provided in section five, and it shall be
forwarded by the consulate within two days after receipt of
same. In the army and navy the commanding officer or a com-
missioned officer, duly delegated by him, shall witness and reg-
ister the return envelope by first mail leaving said command or
ship, provided all the requirements of section three have been
complied with.

7. The registrar, upon receipt of the application for bal-
lot, shall satisfy himself that the applicant is duly qualified to
vote in the precinct for which said application is made, and
shall enroll the name and address of the applicant, if found
eligible, in a book to be provided for the purpose, and make
out the certificate and coupon attached, hereinafter provided,
and forward same to the applicant by registered mail, general
delivery (cost of same having been forwarded as hereinbefore
provided), and also shall enclose in said letter—

a. An envelope containing the folded ballot, sealed and
marked “ballot within.”

b. An envelope, for resealing the marked ballot, form of
which is hereinafter provided and therein called ‘‘voucher.”

5 ne A properly addressed envelope for the return of said
allot.

d. A printed slip giving full instructions regarding the
manner of marking of the ballot, in order that the same may
be counted; how prepared and how returned, which printed
slip shall be provided by the electoral board.

8. The certificate of registration shall be printed, worded
as follows:
This is to certify that ....... lo uccueceuacuaeeucevaenns

is a qualified voter at .............005. hv aadl cence eee eee
county (ward) ........... ccc cece eee ee CHEV. Cece ee eee
State, and entitled to vote in the election to be “held on........
— Application for ballot received ............0.eeseee. date
10) | 6 (postoffice) and mailed to

Lee ence eee eee eeeeaes postoffice, as requested, on.........
A copy of ‘this certificate is filed with the letter of appli-
cation.

Number ............

Registrar.
(Detach the coupon below and return.)

-9. The applicant shall not open the sealed envelope marked
“ballot within” except in the presence of the postmaster or his
assistant, who is to register the same in return. The voter
shall mark and refold the ballot without assistance, and shall
not disclose the manner in which it has been marked, shall seal
and sign the voucher, the postmaster or assistant, signing as
witness to said voucher.

The postmaster, or assistant, shall fill out the following
blank, detach the coupon from the certificate and place it within
the return envelope containing the sealed ballot.

Name ........cccccccccces given by voter °...............
COlor ......... cece eee height ......... ccc cece eee ees age,
Hair ..... cc eee eee eee EVES ... cece cece weight estimated
Sect cece cece tenes birthplace given by voter............
occupation ........ ccc cece cee e eee eeee State and precinct
where voter claimed to have last voted...............cec00-

To the best of my knowledge, the above information is cor-
rect, and the applicant has complied with the requirements of
the law as above provided. I have no knowledge whatever of
the marking, erasures or intent of the ballot enclosed.

Le cee eee eee eees (Signed)............. 7
Postoffice stamp. Postmaster.

(or other person designated in section five of this act.)

In the army and navy a commissioned officer, commanding
officer or commissioned representative, shall sign the foregoing
certificate, in lieu of postmaster. In territory without jurisdic-
tion of the United States, the consular officer shall sign the
certificate.

10. The voucher shall be on the back of the return enve-
lope containing the marked ballot and shall be as follows:
This is to certify that the enclosed ballot was received by
me as per my application to the registrar of ................

precinct .........c. cece cece , county, city, State. The en-
velope marked “ballot within” was opened by me in the pres-
ence Of ............ cece wees , postmaster (consul or commis-
sioned officer) of .............0.- , marked while in the office,

without assistance nor knowledge on the part of anyone as
to manner in which same was prepared, and then and there
sealed as provided by law.

(Signed) .................

Postmaster.

(or other person designated in section five of this act.)

11. It shall be the duty of the electoral board to furnish
the registrar of each precinct with a sufficient number of blank
ballots each properly sealed in an envelope marked ‘“‘ballot
within,” and take his receipt for the same. Within five days
subsequent to the election the registrar shall return to the elec-
toral board all unused ballots in their original sealed envelopes
and a list of the names of those voters who have been furnished
ballots as provided in this act.

12. Upon the receipt of the return ballot from the elector,
the registrar shall, opposite the name of the voter in the book,
heretofore mentioned, write in ink the words “deposited in
sealed box by me on .............- ” and then add his own sig-
nature, and shall deposit the envelope containing the ballot,
unopened, in a sealed box, to be provided for this purpose, in
accordance with section one hundred and twenty-three of the
Code of Virginia, and there it shall remain until the dav of
election. The coupons enclosed with the return ballots shall be
filed with the letter of application.

13. Seven days prior to the election in which the ballot is
designed to be csst. the registrar shall post a list of the voters
who have applied for ballots in accordance with the provisions
of this: act, and shall plainly mark in ink opposite the names
of those whose ballots have been returned, the words, date and
his own signature similar to those in section 12, a true copy
of same to be posted in a conspicuous place in the county or
municipal courthouse, and this list in duplicate, with any addi-
tional returns that have been received, properly marked as
above shall be posted in a conspicuous place at the polling place
of the precinct, on the day of election on which the ballots are
to be offered.

14. On the day of election the registrar shall deliver the
box containing the sealed ballots, together with the letters of
application and return coupons attached, and a list in triplicate
like those in section 13, sealed, to the judge of election, at the
precinct in which the ballots are to be cast, and shall take re-
ceipt for said box and sealed papers.

15. At the close of the regular balloting, the box is to be
opened by the judges of election, and the ballots deposited in
regular ballot box as follows:

As each envelope is removed from the box, the name of
the voter is to be called and checked as if the voter were vot-
ing in person. If found entitled to cast his vote, the envelope
is then, but not until then, opened, and the ballot deposited in
the regular box without examining or unfolding it.

16. When all ballots have been accounted for and either
voted or rejected, the empty envelopes that previously con-
tained the said ballots are to be returned to the original box
together with the sealed package of letters of applications and
coupons and the rejected envelopes, if any, on which, or at-
tached, shall be plainly written the cause of rejection, signed
by a majority of the judges of election. The box shall there-
upon be resealed and not opened within ninety days except
by order of court. |

17. The registrar shall receive for each voter availing him-
self of the provisions of this act the same fee that he receives
for registering a voter, and the compensation for posting notices
shall also be governed by the general election laws.

18. Any person attempting to aid or abet fraud in con-
nection with any vote cast, or to be cast, or attempted to be
cast, under the provisions of this act shall, upon conviction,
be sentenced to the penitentiary for not less than one nor more
than five years.

Any person attempting to vote by fraudulently signing the
name of a regularly qualified voter, shall be guilty of forgery.

Any public official who knowingly violates any of the pro-
visions of this act, and thereby aids in any way the illegal cast-
ing, or attempting to cast, a vote, or who shall connive to nul-
lify any provisions of this act in order that fraud may be perpe-
trated shall forever be disqualified from holding office in the
Commonwealth, and shall ever be disqualified from exercising
the right of franchise.

19. The election laws of Virginia shall be liberally con-
strued with respect to this act, so that full force and effect may
be given its provisions, and all acts or parts of acts in conflict
herewith are hereby repealed.