Chap. 2.—An ACT to amend and reenact Sections 5 and 6 of Chapter 280, as
amended, of the Acts of Assembly of 1932, approved March 24, 1932, being
the charter of the city of Alexandria and to add thereto a section numbered
6-a, all dealing with the special election to determine whether members of
the council shall be elected at large or by wards. [H 46]

Approved January 29, 1948

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That sections five and six of chapter two hundred eighty,
as amended, of the Acts of Assembly of nineteen hundred thirty-
two, approved March twenty-four, nineteen hundred thirty-two be
amended and reenacted and that a section numbered six-a be added
therein, as follows:

Section 5. The composition of the council shall be one of the
two following plans subject to the choice of the electorate of the
city to be determined at a special election to be hereinafter provided :

COUNCIL AT LARGE PLAN

Under this plan, on and after September one, nineteen hundred
forty-eight, the council shall consist of seven members who shall
be elected at large from the qualified voters of the city and they shall
serve for a term of three years from the first day of September next
following the date of their election and until their successors have
been elected and qualify; provided that at the first election held in
nineteen hundred forty-eight, four councilmen shall be elected for
a term of one year and the three present councilmen elected at large,
whose terms expire August thirty-one, nineteen hundred forty-nine,
shall continue in office until the expiration of their terms and until
their successors are elected and qualify, and the present presiding of-
ficer of the council and ex-officio mayor shall continue to serve as
such until the expiration of his present term. The council shall be a
continuing body and no measure pending before it shall abate or be
discontinued by reason of the expiration of the term of office or re-
moval of the members of the body or any of them. In case of a va-
cancy arising in the office of councilman, it shall be the duty of the
council to certify same to the judge of the corporation court, who
shall issue his writ for an election to fill the vacancy in the manner
prescribed by the general election laws of the State.

On and after September one, nineteen hundred forty-nine, the
member of the council elected at the election to be held in nineteen
hundred forty-nine who receives the largest popular vote shall be
the president and presiding officer of the council and ex-officio mayor
of the city, and the member of council receiving the next largest
popular vote shall be the vice-president of the council, to act in place
of the president in his absence, or incapacity, or resignation as presi-
dent of the council and mayor; and shall succeed the presiding
officer in the event of a vacancy in his office, in which event the
members of council shall elect one of their number to serve as vice-
president.

The president or mayor shall have the same powers and duties
as other members of the council, with a vote, but no veto, and shall
be the official head of the city.

COUNCIL BY WARD PLAN

Under this plan, on and after September one, nineteen forty-
eight, the council shall consist of nine members, six of whom shall
be elected, one from each of the six wards of the city and three at
large and the members of the council elected from each ward shall
serve for a term of two years from the first day of September next
following the date of their election and until their successors have
been elected and qualify, and the councilmen elected at large shall
serve for a term of three years from the first day of September
next following the date of their election and until their successors
shall have been elected and qualify; provided that at the first elec-
tion held in nineteen hundred forty-eight, only the six members, one
from each ward, shall be elected and the present three members of
the council whose terms do not expire until the thirty-first day of
August, nineteen hundred forty-nine, shall be the members of the
council at large until the expiration of their terms and until their
successors are elected and qualify, and the present presiding officer
of the council and ex-officio mayor shall continue to serve until
the expiration of his term as such and after September first, nine-
teen hundred forty-nine, the member of the council elected at large
at the election to be held in nineteen hundred forty-nine for members
of the council to succeed the present members whose terms expire
the thirty-first day of August, nineteen hundred forty-nine, who
receives the largest popular vote shall be the president and presiding
officer of the council and ex-officio mayor of the city and it shall
then also be the duty of the council to elect, another member to be
vice-president of the council to act in place of the president in his
absence or incapacity. The mayor shall have the same power and
duties as other members of the council with a vote, but no veto,
and shall be the official head of the city.

Section 6. A special election shall be held on the second day of
March, nineteen hundred forty-eight, at which election the electorate
of the city who were qualified to vote at the last preceding regular
November election, and those who would be qualified to vote at the
regular election in June, nineteen hundred forty-eight, shall deter-
mine which of the two legislative plans as provided in section five
hereof shall be adopted for the government of the city, and it is
hereby made the duty of the regular election officers of the city to
prepare the ballots and provide for the submission of the question
to the voters at the election. The election shall be conducted in the
manner prescribed by law for the conduct of regular elections and
the ballots shall be printed and voted in accordance with the pro-
visions of section one hundred ninety-seven-a of the Code. The
questions to be voted on shall be printed in separate lines thus:

(] For council at large plan
{] For council by ward plan.

Returns of the election shall be certified by the commissioners of
election to the corporation court of the city or the judge in vacation
and an order shall be entered of record, setting forth the legislative
plan adopted by a majority vote of the electors at the election, a
copy of which shall be forthwith certified by the clerk of the court
to the council of the city for recordation in its journal.

The election may be contested and the proceedings for the con-
test shall conform as nearly as may be to the provisions of section
two thousand seven hundred fifty-four of the Code of Virginia.

Section 6-a. In the primary election which may be held Tues-
day, April six, nineteen hundred forty-eight, for the nomination of
candidates for the vacancies in the council to be filled in the election
of June eight, nineteen hundred forty-eight, the name of any
candidate shall be printed on the official primary ballot if he shall
make and file his written declaration of candidacy at least thirty
days before the primary. All provisions of sections two hundred
twenty-three and two hundred twenty-nine of the Code of Virginia
which are inconsistent with this section are hereby superseded for
the purpose of the primary election which may be held hereunder
on April six, nineteen hundred forty-eight but in all other respects
shall remain in full force and effect.

2. An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.