Chap. 193.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Sections 203 as amended. 205 as
amended, 207, 208 as amended, 210, 211 as amended, 212, 213 and 216 of the
Code of Virginia, relating to voting without personal appearance at the polls.
to amend the Code of Virginia by adding thereto a new section numbered 216-a
providing for assistance to electoral boards, and to repeal Section 218 of the
Code of Virginia prescribing how the provisions of the absent voter statutes
shall be construed. [H B 72]

Approved March 15, 1946

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That section two hundred three as amended, two hundred five
as amended, two hundred seven, two hundred eight as amended, two
hundred ten, two hundred eleven as amended, two hundred twelve, two
hundred thirteen, and two hundred sixteen of the Code of Virginia be
amended and re-enacted, as follows:

Section 203. Application to registrar for ballot—(a) He shall
make application in writing for a ballot to the registrar of his precinct,
not less than five nor more than sixty days prior to the primary, special
or general election in which he desires to vote ; if he be within the confines
of the United States, or not less than five days nor more than ninety
days, if he be in the Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone,
or in territory over which the United States has no jurisdiction. The
application may be handed by the applicant himself to the registrar in
person, or forwarded to him by mail, and shall contain necessary postage,
or the correct amount in legal tender, necessary for registering the ballot
from the electoral board to such applicant. But the failure to enclose
necessary postage shall not render void a vote otherwise legally cast.

(b) The application shall be accompanied by an affidavit to the ef-
fect that for some one of the reasons set out in the preceding section he
expects to be absent from his city, town or precinct on the day of election,
or that he will be physically unable to go in person to the polls on the
day of election. The affidavit shall also state that the applicant is a resi-
dent of the precinct in which he offers to vote, and shall show whether
he is exempt from the payment of the poll tax, and if so, the reason
therefor.

(c) Any such application, when signed and delivered, or returned to
the registrar, shall be construed to be an offer by the voter signing it to
vote in the election.

(d) The provisions of this section as amended shall apply to any
special election held after the effective date of this act regardless of
whether or not application in a particular case for a ballot to be used in
the special election was made before or after the effective date of this act ;
and any such ballot which is duly returned to the electoral board shall be
counted if the elector be qualified to vote in the election and has complied
with all the provisions of this chapter.

Section 205. Duty of registrar and electoral board on receipt of ap-
plication.—The registrar, upon receipt of the application for a ballot, if
the applicant is duly registered in his precinct, shall enroll the name and
address of the applicant on the list to be kept by him for the purpose,
and shall forward the application with the required affidavit attached,
to the secretary of the electoral board, noting thereon that the applicant
is a registered voter of his precinct. If it then appear to the electoral
board that the applicant is a registered voter of the precinct in which he
offers to vote, the electoral board shall send to the applicant by registered
mail the following:
(a) An envelope containing the folded ballot, sealed and marked
“ballot within. Do not open except in presence of a notary public” (or
other officer mentioned in section two hundred and eight).

(b) An envelope for resealing the marked ballot, on which is printed
the “voucher”, the form of which is hereinafter given.

(c) A properly addressed envelope for the return of the ballot to
the electoral board by registered mail or by the applicant in person.

(d) A printed slip giving instruction as to the manner of making
out the voucher on the envelope for the return of the ballot hereinafter
mentioned and how the same shall be returned.

(e) A “coupon”, the form of which is hereinafter given.

Any ballot returned to the electoral board in any manner except by
registered mail or by the applicant in person shall be void. The board
shall mark on each envelope whether it was returned by mail or in per-
son by the voter,

No registrar shall solicit any application for a ballot. Three days
before the day of election the registrar shall make out in duplicate a list
of the names and addresses of all persons who have applied to him for
such ballots, and shall post one copy thereof in a conspicuous place at the
polling place of his precinct, and shall transmit the other, either by mail
or in person, to the clerk to whose office returns of the election are to be
made.

The printed slip of instructions provided for in paragraph (d) of this
section shall not contain any instructions with regard to the manner of
marking the ballot or any information which will give aid to the prospec-
tive voter on the preparation of his ballot which is in contravention of the
Constitution of Virginia, but it shall contain, in bold type, an instruction
to the voter to the effect that if he should for any reason decide not to vote
the ballot enclosed, he shall return the same unopened to the electoral
board as provided in section two hundred eight.

Section 207. Form of coupon.—The “coupon”’ called for in section
two hundred five shall be in the following form:

COUPON
Name (given by voter) -.........2...-::::eeceeeeee+ <0) (0) eee ;
height ..........2.-:eeeeeeeeeees , age (given by voter) .............. eee , color of
hair 2... , color of eves ............--- , weight (estimated) ................. ;
birthplace (given by voter) .22............:ccceecesceeceeceeeeceeceeceeceeesseceeeeeeesseeeeeetteees ,
occupation (given by voter) -............2:::2::ceeeeeeeeeeeeeeees , otate and precinct

where voter claims to have last voted ...............2..ccceeeeesecceeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees
To the best of my knowledge, the above information is correct, and
the applicant has complied with the requirements of the law as above
provided. I have no knowledge whatever of the marking, erasure, or
intent of the ballot enclosed.
(Signed ) ......eceeeeceeeecce se eceeeesesceeesesseeesesceeeseeeecerseees
Notarv Public.
(or other person mentioned in section two hundred and eight).
Section 208. How ballots voted and returned: unused ballots.—
Upon receipt of the registered letter, forwarded by the electoral board,
the voter shall not open the sealed envelope, marked “ballot within”,
except in the presence of a notary public or other officer authorized by
law to take acknowledgments to deeds, and shall then and there mark
and refold the ballot without assistance and without making known the
manner of marking same. He shall then and there place the ballot in the
envelope provided for the purpose, seal the envelope, and fill in and sign
the voucher printed on the back of the envelope in the presence of a notary
public or other officer hereinabove provided, who shall witness the same
in writing. This envelope, together with the coupon, which must be filled
out and signed by the notary public, or other officer as herein provided,
shall be enclosed within the envelope directed to the electoral board,
which shall then and there be sealed, and shall be registered and mailed to
the electoral board, or delivered personally by the voter to the electoral
board.

Any notary or other officer above mentioned, who is a candidate for
nomination or for any office, who shall so witness or certify the ballot
of any such absent voter, to be cast at the same election at which such
notary or other officer is to be voted for, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
If for any reason a person, who has applied for and received a ballot,
should decide not to vote the same, it shall be his duty to return such
ballot unopened, in the sealed envelope in which it was received, to the
electoral board from whom he received the same, at least three days
before the day of the election in which such ballot was intended to be used.

The electoral board shall cause to be noted on the list required by
section two hundred and eleven to be kept by it, opposite the name of
the person returning such ballot, the fact that the same was returned un-
used, with the date of the return thereof, and shall carefully preserve all
such ballots so returned and deliver them, together with the other ballots,
to the judges of election on election day. If a voter, after having re-
turned his unused ballot as provided herein, shall present himself at his
precinct to personally cast his vote on election day, he shall be entitled to
cast his ballot.

Section 210. Applications for ballots to be furnished by electoral
board.—It shall be the duty of the electoral board of each county and
city to furnish the registrar of each precinct with a sufficient number
of applications for official ballots, the form of such applications to be pre-
scribed by the State Board of Elections.

Section 211. Deposit of return ballot by electoral board —Upon the
receipt of the ballot from the voter, the electoral board shall enroll the
full name and address of the voter on a list which it shall keep by precincts
for the purpose, and shall write in ink following each name, ‘Received
ballot OM ooo ee tees cee cceeeeeesseeeeeeeeeees > (date of receipt), and shall attach to
the unopened envelope containing the ballot the coupon enclosed with the
sealed ballot. and the application. affidavit and certificate, if any, of the
voter, and shall deposit such unopened ballot and attached papers in a
separate container provided for the purpose for each precinct, in which
container the ballot and other papers shall remain until the day of elec-
tion.
Section 212. Names of applicants for ballots and of persons re-
turning ballots to be posted_—On the morning of the day of election,on
which the ballots are to be offered, the registrar and the electoral board,
respectively, shall post true copies of the lists required by sections two
hundred and five and two hundred and eleven in conspicuous places at
the polling place of the proper precincts.

Section 213. Sealed containers to be delivered to judges of elec-
tion.—On the day of election the electoral board shall deliver to the
judges of election at the proper precincts the containers required by sec-
tion two hundred and eleven, taking their receipt therefor. The contain-
ers shall be sealed prior to such delivery, and shall have therein the sealed
ballots with their accompanying coupons, applications, affidavits and cer-
tificates, and the lists of prospective voters for such precincts required
by section two hundred and eleven.

Section 216. Fees of registrar and secretary of electoral board.—
The registrar shall receive for each voter availing himself of the pro-
visions of this chapter 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. The secretary of the electoral board shall re-
ceive a fee of twenty-five cents for each application filed hereunder.

Section 216-a. Assistance to be provided electoral boards.—The
governing body of each county and city shall provide the electoral boards
with such assistance as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of
this chapter.

2. Section two hundred and eighteen of the Code of Virginia is
hereby repealed.