Chap. 423.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 154, 236 and 238 of the Code
of Virginia. [H B 334]
Approved March 21, 1924.

1. Beit enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sections
one hundred and fifty-four, two hundred and thirty-six and two hun-
dred and thirty-eight of the Code of Virginia, be amended and re-.
enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 154. Duty of candidates for office.—Any person who in-
tends to be a candidate for any office, State or national, to be elected by
the electors of the State at large or of a congressional dis‘rict shall, at
least thirty days before such election, notify the secretary of the Com-
monwealth, in writing, attested by two witnesses, of such intention,
designating the office for which he is a candidate. Such written notice
shall be signed by the said candidate, but, if he be incapable of writing
his proper signature, then some mark adopted by him as his signature
shall be acknowledged before some officer authorized to take acknowl-
edgments to deeds and in the same manner. Any person who intends
to be a candidate for any office not embraced in th> foregoing at any
election shall give notice at least thirty days before such election to the
county clerk or clerks of the county or counties, and to th: clerk or
clerks of the corporation courts of the city or cities whose electors vote
for such office, which notice shall in all respects be in the same form as
that above described required to be given to the secretary of the Com-
monwealth. No person not announcing his candidacy as above, or who
is not qualified to vote in the election in which he offers as a candidate,
shall have his name printed on the ballots provided for such election.
On -eceipt of the foregoing notice it shall be the duty of the secretary of
the Commonwealth to notify the secretary of each electoral board of
each county and city of the State or of said congressional district, and
it shall be the duty of said clerk or clerks to notify the secretary of the
electoral boards of their respective counties and cities, which notices
shall be sent by the secretary of the Commonwealth and clerks im-
mediately after the time has expired in which candidates may give no-
tice of their candidacy as prescribed by this section. Said clerks shall
send copies of the original notices of candidacy to the secretary of the
electoral board when they notify him. Whenever any secretary of an
electoral board is elected, he shall at once notify the secretary of the
Commonwealth of his election, and inform him as to his postoffice
address.

Section 236. Primary ballots.--The primary ballots for the several
parties taking part in a primary shall be printed and delivered to the
judges of election by the city or county electoral boards. These ballots
shall be official and shall be composed, arranged, printed and provided
in the same manner as the official election ballots except that across the
head of each official primary ballot shall be printed in plain black type
the date of the primary, the name of the political party, the names of
whose candidates are printed thereon, and immediately underneath the
following words: ‘Primary election ballot.’”’ There shall also be
printed under the name of each office to be filled a direction as to the
number of candidates to be voted for for that office. The number of
ballots printed for each party participating in the primary shall be equal
to twice the number of qualified voters of such party.

Section 238. Poll books and ballots to be sealed; when and by
whom delivered to clerks; where. kept; if returns not made, how ob-
tained.—After canvassing the votes, the Judges, before they adjourn,
shall put under cover the poll books, seal the same, and direct one of
them to the clerk of the circuit court of the county or the clerk of the
corporation court of the city, as the case may be, in which the election
is held, and the poll book thus sealed and directed, together with the
ballots strung, enclosed and sealed, shall be conveyed by one of the
judges, to be determined by lot if they cannot otherwise agree, to the
clerk to whom it is directed, on the day following the election, there to
remain for the use of the persons who may be lawfully entitled to in-
spect the same. The other poll book shall be directed to the chairman
of the city or county committee of the party for which the primary is
held. The clerk to whom the ballots are delivered, as aforesaid, shall,
without breaking the seal, deposit them in his office, where they shall
be safely kept for twelve months; and he shall not allow the same to be
inspected unless in cases of contested elections, or unless they become
necessary to be used in evidence, and then only on the order of the court
given jurisdiction of such contest, or as otherwise provided in the chap-
ter. The judges of election shall be responsible for all the primary
ballots delivered to them, and shall return to the clerk of the circuit
court of the county or the corporation court of the city, as the case may be,
all unused ballots, including those not voted and those spoiled by voters
while attempting to vote. If from any cause the judges of election
shall fail to make returns, as provided by this section, within the time
limited by the following section for the commissioners to meet and open
the returns, it shall be the duty of the clerk to whose office such returns
ought to have been made to dispatch a special messenger to obtain such
returns, who shall be subject to the same penalties and entitled to the
same compensation as a judge of election for such services.