Chap. 370.—An ACT to amend section 122a and 122b of an act entitled
an act to amend and re-enact chapter 10 of the Code of Virginia, in
reference to general and special elections; when and where to be held;
regulation for their conduct and government; compensation for ser-
vices in election, approved January 11, 1904. (H. B. 352.)

Approved March 20, 1916.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
section one hundred and twenty-two-a and one hundred and
twenty-two-b of an act entitled an act to amend and re-enact
chapter ten of the Code of Virginia, in reference to general and
special elections; when and where to be held; regulation for
their conduct and government; compensation ‘for services in
election, approved January eleventh, nineteen hundred and four,
be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 122-a. Duty of candidates for office.—Any person
who intends to be a candidate for any office, State or national,
to be elected by the electors of the State at large or of a con-
gressional district shall at least thirty days before such elec-
tion, notify the secretary of the Commonwealth, 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 writ-
ing his proper signature, then some mark adopted by him as
his signature shall be acknowledged before a justice of the
peace or other officer authorized to take acknowledgments to
deeds and in the same manner. Any person who intends to
be a candidate for any office not embraced in the foregoing at
any election shall give notice at least thirty days before such
election to the county clerk or clerks of the corporation or
hustings courts of the county or counties or the city or cities
whose electors vote for such office, which notice shall in all re-
spects be in the same form as that above described required
to be given to the secretary of the Commonwealth. No person
not announcing his candidacy, as above shall have his name
printed on the ballots, provided for such election. On receipt
of the foregoing notice it shall be the duty of said clerk or
clerks to notify the secretary of the electoral boards of their
respective counties or cities, which notices shall be sent by the
secretary of the Commonwealth and clerks immediately after
the time has expired in which candidates may give notice of
their candidacy as prescribed by this section. Said clerk shall
send copies of the original notices of candidacy to the secre-
tary 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.

Sec. 122-b. How and when ballots printed.—It shall be
the duty of the electoral board of the several counties and cities
of the State, within twenty days preceding each election, to
cause to be printed a number of ballots equal to the entire reg-
istered vote of the said county or city; provided, however, that
in magisterial districts of a county or wards of a city, only the
names of the candidates to be voted for in said district or ward
shall be placed on the said ballots. These ballots shall be
white paper tickets without any distinguishing mark or sym-
bol, shall contain the names of all the candidates complying with
the provisions of the law, printed in black ink, immediately
below the office for which they have so announced their can-
didacy, in due and orderly succession, and the names on said
ballot shall be in clear print, in the same order and each name
in a separate line, and the type used in printing said ballots
shall be plain Roman type, not smaller than pica.

Oath of the printer.—The printer with whom the board shall
contract for the printing of said ballots shall, before the work
is commenced, take an oath before the secretary of said board,
who is hereby empowered to administer said oath, to the fol-
lowing effect: “I, 2.0.2... 2... cee eee ee , solemnly swear that
I will print (here insert number), ballots according to the in-
struction of the electoral board of the county (or city) of
ccc cece eee cee ; that I will print, and permit to be printed,
directly or indirectly, no more than the above number; that I
will at once destroy all imperfect and perfect impressions other
than those required to be delivered to the electoral board; that
as soon as said number of ballots is printed I will distribute the
type used for said work and finally, that I will not communicate
to any one whomsoever, in any manner whatsoever, the size,
style or contents of said ballots.”

The oath shall be reduced to writing and signed by the per-
son taking it, and also a similar affidavit shall be required of
any employee or other person engaged upon said work, or who
shall have access to it, and any intentional violation of said
oath shall constitute the crime of perjury. It shall be the duty
of said board to designate one of their number to be continu-
ously present in the room in which the said ballots are printed
from the commencement until the end of said work, and see
that the undertakings of said oath are strictly complied with.
For the faithful discharge of said duty he shall receive the
compensation of two dollars. As soon as said ballots are
printed they shall be securely wrapped and sealed, and such
member of the electoral board shall take them into his exclu-
sive possession, allowing no one to examine them; nor shall
such member communicate to any one any information as to
the size, style, or contents of said ballots. He shall continue
in such exclusive possession until he delivers said ballots to
the electoral board as hereinafter provided. Any violation of
the provisions of this section, for which no punishment has been
otherwise provided, shall be deemed a misdemeanor and
punished by a fine of two hundred dollars and imprisonment.
for one month in jail.