Chap. 1.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Section 3 of Chapter 2 of the Acts of the
General Assembly, extra session of 1945, approved March 26, 1945, which chapter
provides facilities for absentee voting by Virginia members of the armed forces
of the United States, in primary and general elections, Section 3 relating to the
time for filing declarations of candidacy in primary elections, the completion
of nominations of candidates for certain offices, and other related matters.

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Approved January 24, 1946

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That section three of chapter two of the Acts of the General
Assembly of Virginia, extra session of nineteen hundred forty-five,
approved March twenty-six, nineteen hundred forty-five, be amend-
ed and re-enacted, as follows:

Section 3. Qualification of candidates—During the effective
period of this act, all declarations of candidacy, required by section two
hundred twenty-nine of the Code of Virginia, for an office to be
filled by election by the qualified voters of the State at large, or by a con-
gressional district, shall be filed at least ninety days, and in all other cases
at least sixty days, before the primary. The party chairman or other
officers with whom such declarations of candidacy are filed, in addition to
certifying the names as now required by law, shall, as provided by section
two hundred twenty-nine of the Code, or other applicable statute,
also certify within seven days to the Secretary of the Commonwealth the
names of all primary candidates for any of the offices embraced within
the provisions of this act, who have qualified to have their names on the
official ballot, in all cases where more than one candidate filed such a
declaration for the same office. The Secretary shall immediately upon
certification of said names cause ballots to be printed conforming as
nearly as practicable to the provisions of section four of this act. The
ballot shall show on its face the name of the political party holding the
primary election in which the ballots are to be voted. During the effec-
tive period of this act, in order that ballots may be printed in ample time
for the transmission of same to absent members of the armed forces
overseas, and their return, all political parties desiring to nominate can-
didates for members of the General Assembly, Governor, Lieutenant
Governor, Attorney General, and all county and city officers except
mayor and councilmen, shall make and complete their nominations in the
manner provided by law on or before the first Tuesday in August, and
for mayor and members of councils in cities on or before the first Tues-
day in April, and the proper authorities of each political party shall cer-
tify the names of its candidates to the chairman of the electoral boards, if
required, and to the Secretary of the Commonwealth within seven days
after said day. All candidates for said offices shall file their notices of
candidacy and petitions, if same are required by section one hundred
fifty-four of the Code of Virginia, within seven days after the first
Tuesday in August, or the first Tuesday in April, as the case may be,
with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and also with the clerk or
other officer, when same is required by law. The name of no candidate
for any state or local office whose name is not so certified, or whose notice
of candidacy, if the filing of such a notice is required by said Code section
one hundred fifty-four, is not filed within the time required by this
section, shall be printed on any official ballot for said election.

If any primary election 1s called or ordered for county or city or
other local officers on the first Tuesday in April, nineteen hundred
forty-six, the chairman of the county or city committee, as the case may
be, shall give at least sixty-five days’ notice thereof by publication in at
least one newspaper in such county or city. In the event that no news-
paper is published in such county or city, then such notice shall be given
by posting at every precinct of such county or city and in a newspaper of
general circulation in such county or city, either or both.

2. An emergency is hereby declared to exist and this act shall be
in force from its passage.