Chap. 14.—An ACT to provide for the registration of persons qualified to vote,
and transfer of persons who have theretofore registered to vote in lieu of such
registration, in cities containing more than 190,000 population according to the
last United States census, in the year following the termination of the un-
limited national emergency declared by the President of the United States on
May 27th, 1941, and to provide for such registration thereafter, or transfer in
lieu thereof, in the year succeeding each United States census; to provide for
defraying the cost and expense of such registrations and transfers; to define
persons who may register or transfer registrations and who shall be qualified
to vote after such registrations or transfers; to prescribe the duties of general
registrars in such cities with respect to such registrations and transfers; to
provide for the form of records of such registrations and transfers; and to re-
quire persons registered or transferred in such cities to give written notice to
general registrars therein of changes in their names and residences; and to pro-
vide for the assignment of such persons to proper wards and precincts. [H 21]

Approved February 11, 1944

Bt it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That in cities containing more than one hundred and ninety thou-
sand population according to the last United States census, there shall
be a registration of all persons qualified to vote under the constitution and
general laws of the Commonwealth, or a transfer of persons who have
theretofore registered to vote in lieu of such registration, in the year fol-
lowing the termination of the unlimited national emergency declared by
the President of the United States on May twenty-seventh, nineteen
hundred and forty-one; and thereafter there shall be a registration, or
transfer in lieu thereof, of such persons during the year succeeding each
United States census. The cost and expense of such registrations and
transfers shall be borne by such cities. No person shall be qualified to
vote in any election held in any year subsequent to the year following the
termination of such emergency or in any year subsequent to the year
following such census unless he or she registers, or causes the transfer of
his or her registration in lieu thereof, according to the provisions of this
act.

2. The general registrar in each of such cities throughout the year
following the termination of such emergency and thereafter throughout
the year following each such census and at all other times when the
registration records are open for the purpose, shall register each person
in his or her full and complete name, who, by the constitution and gen-
eral laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, is entitled and qualified to
register as a prerequisite to the right to vote in elections and makes ap-
plication therefor. It shall be the duty of each such person to make writ-
ten application for registration hereunder to such general registrar on
forms provided by him for the purpose, in his own handwriting, without
aid, suggestion, or memorandum, in the presence of such general regis-
trar or an assistant registrar, stating therein his or her full and complete
name, age, date and place of birth, residence and occupation at the time
and for the ten years next preceding, and whether he or she has previously
voted, and if so, the State, county, city or town and precinct in which he
or she last voted ; and shall answer on oath any and all question affecting
his qualifications as an elector, submitted to him by the said registrar or
assistant registrar, which questions and answers thereto shall be reduced
to writing, certified by the said registrar or assistant registrar, and pre-
served as a part of the general registrar's records. ,

3. In lieu of applying for registration under the provisions of section
two of this act, every person who is registered at the date of the termina-
tion of said emergency, and at the effective date of each United States
census, may make written application to such general registrar, on forms
provided by him for the purpose, for the transfer of his or her registra-
tion upon the records in his office, stating under oath therein his or her
full and complete name by which he or she theretofore registered, and
his or her then existing name, and date and place of birth. Upon receipt
of such application, it shall be the duty of such general registrar to ex-
amine the records in his office and if he finds that such applicant is at
the time thereof duly registered in his office as a voter, then it shall be
the further duty of the general registrar to transfer the registration of
such person to the proper records in his office and such person shall be
deemed to have registered under the provisions of this act.
4. The council of each such city shall furnish a suitable and con-
venient place or places, with necessary facilities and equipment for use
by persons desiring to register or transfer their registrations, the cost
of the same to be paid by each such city.

5. It shall be the duty of the general registrar in each such city to
maintain in the city hall or other municipal building, of such city, an of-
fice wherein all qualified voters of such city may be registered or trans-
ferred. Each such general registrar shall preserve the written applica-
tions of all persons who are registered or transferred under the provisions
of this act and who are denied registration or transfer for at least one year
after such applications are made. Said written applications shall be kept
and preserved as a part of the general registrar’s records. Every person
refused registration or transfer shall be at once notified of such refusal.

6. The general registrar in each such city shall prescribe the form
of records of registrations and transfers which may from time to time be
altered, amended or changed as he may deem necessary, and registra-
tion or transfer upon such records shall be as effective as if the names
of persons had been registered in permanent books as heretofore pro-
vided by law, and all laws applicable to registration books, and the clos-
ing and use thereof shall apply to such records and the closing and use
of such records.

7. Every person registered or transferred under the provisions of
this act shall give notice in writing to the general registrar of his city of
any change in name or residence and such general registrar upon receipt
of such notice shall make such changes in his records as are necessary
to conform them thereto, and to assign such persons to proper wards and
precincts. |

8. All acts or parts of acts which are inconsistent with the provisions
of this act are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistencies.