Chap. 266.—JOINT RESOLUTION proposing amendments to sections 69 and
70 of the Constitution of Virginia, which sections relate to the election and
term of office of the Governor. [SJ RJ]

Signed March 23, 1926.

Resolved by the senate, the house of delegates concurring (a
majority of the members elected to each house agreeing), That the
following amendments to sections sixty-nine and seventy of the Con-
stitution of Virginia, be, and the same are hereby, proposed, and re-
ferred to the general assembly at its first regular session held after the
next general election of members of the house of delegates, for its
concurrence, in conformity with the provisions of section one hundred
and ninety-six of the said Constitution, namely:

Strike out from the Constitution of Virginia section sixty-nine,
which is in the following words:

Section 69. The chief executive power of the State shall be vested
in a governor. He shall hold office for a term of four years, to com-
mence on the first day of February next succeeding his election, and
be ineligible to the same office for the term next succeeding that for
which he was elected, and to any other office during his term of
service.

And insert in lieu thereof the following:

The chief executive power of the State shall be vested in a governor.
He shall hold office for a term commencing on the Thursday after the
second Wednesday in January next succeeding his election and ending
on the Thursday after the second Wednesday in January in the fourth
year thereafter. He shall be ineligible to the same office for the term
next succeeding that for which he was elected, and to any other office
during his term of service. .

Strike out from the Constitution of Virginia section seventy, which
is in the following words:

Section 70. The governor shall be elected by the qualified voters
of the State at the time and place of choosing members of the general
assembly. Returns of the election shall be transmitted under seal,
by the proper officers, to the secretary of the Commonwealth, who
shall deliver them to the speaker of the house of delegates on the first
day of the next session of the general assembly. The speaker of the
house of delegates shall, within one week thereafter, in the presence
of a majority of the senate and of the house of delegates, open the
returns, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the
highest number of votes, shall be declared elected; but if two or more
shall have the highest and an equal number of votes, one of them shall
be chosen governor by the joint vote of the two houses of the general
assembly. Contested elections for governor shall be decided by a
ike vote, and the mode of proceeding in such cases shall be prescribed
by law.

And insert in lieu thereof the following:

Section 70. The governor shall be elected by the qualified voters
of the State at the time and place of choosing members of the general
assembly. Returns of the election shall be transmitted under seal,
by the proper officers, to the secretary of the Commonwealth, who
shall deliver them to the speaker of the house of delegates on the first
day of the next session of the general assembly. The speaker of the
house of delegates shall on that day, in the presence of a majority of
the senate and of the house of delegates, open the returns, and the
votes shall then be counted. The person having the highest number
of votes, shall be declared elected; but if two or more shall have the
highest and an equal number of votes, one of them shall be chosen
governor by the joint vote of the two houses of the general assembly.
Contested elections for governor shall be decided by a like vote, and
the mode of proceeding in such cases shall be prescribed by law.