Chap. 289.—An ACT to provide for the submission of a proposed amendment
to Section 51 of the Constitution of Virginia to the qualified voters for ratifica-
tion or rejection, and to prescribe when and how such referendum shall be
had, and the manner in which the results thereof shall be ascertained and
certified, the returns canvassed, and the vote thereon proclaimed by the
Governor, (H 419]

Approved March 16, 1948

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. It shall be the duty of the officers conducting the election
directed by law to be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday
in November, nineteen hundred forty-eight, at the place appointed
for holding the same, to open a poll and take the sense of the
qualified voters upon the ratification or rejection of the proposed
amendment to the Constitution of Virginia, contained in the joint
resolution proposing the said amendment to the Constitution of
Virginia, and directing a submission of said proposed amendment
to the people for their approval and ratification, to-wit:

Strike from the Constitution of Virginia section fifty-one, which
is as follows:

Section 51. Standing committee on special, private and local
legislation—There shall be a joint committee of the General As-
sembly, consisting of seven members appointed by the House
of Delegates, and five members appointed by the Senate, which
shall be a standing committee on special, private and local legis-
lation. Before reference to a committee, as provided by section
fifty, any special, private, or local bill introduced in either house
shall be referred to and considered by such joint committee and
returned to the house in which it originated, with a statement in
writing whether the object of the bill can be accomplished under
general law or by court proceedings; whereupon, the bill, with the
accompanying statement, shall take the course provided by section
fifty. The joint committee may be discharged from the consideration
of a bill by the house in which it originated, in the manner provided
in section fifty for the discharge of other committees.

And insert in lieu thereof the following:

Section 51. (Omitted).

SCHEDULE

At such election a ballot shall be furnished each voter which
shall have printed thereon the following:
Question: Shall section fifty-one of the Constitution of Vir-
ginia be amended so as to abolish the joint committee of the General
Assembly on special, private and local legislation?

[] FOR

(10 AGAINST

The ballot shall be prepared, distributed and voted, and the
results thereof ascertained and certified in the manner prescribed by
section one hundred ninety-seven-a of the Code of Virginia. It shall
be the duty of the clerks and commissioners of election of each
county and city, respectively, to make out, certify and forward
an abstract of the votes cast for and against said proposed amend-
ment in the manner now prescribed by law in relation to votes
cast in general elections.

It shall be the duty of the State Board of Elections to open and
canvass the said abstracts of returns, and to examine and make
statement of the whole number of votes given at said election for
said proposed amendment and against said proposed amendment,
respectively, in the manner now prescribed by law in relation to
votes cast in general elections; and it shall be the duty of the State
Board of Elections to record said certified statement in its office,
and without delay to make out and transmit to the Governor of
ry Commonwealth an official copy of said statement, certified

y it.

The Governor shall, without delay, make proclamation of the
result, stating therein the aggregate vote for and against said
amendment, to be published in such newspapers in the State as
may be deemed requisite for general information; and if a majority
of said votes be cast for the ratification of the amendment, he
shall annex to his proclamation a copy thereof. The State Board
of Elections shall cause to be sent to the clerks of each county and
corporation, at least thirty days before the election, as many copies
of this act as there are places of voting therein; and it shall be the
duty of such clerks to forthwith deliver the same to the sheriffs of
their respective counties and cities for distribution. Each such
sheriff shall forthwith post a copy of such act at some public
place in each election district at or near the usual voting place in
the said district.

The expenses incurred in conducting this election shall be
defrayed as in the case of the election of members of the General
Assembly.