Chap. 392.—An ACT to amend and reenact Sections 96 as amended, 104, 118
as amended, 155 as amended, 158 as amended, 185, 224, 230 as amended, 241,
243 and 248 of the Code of Virginia relating, respectively, to oath of registrar,
duties of registrars, terms of certain officers, printing of ballots, duties of
electoral boards, abstracts of votes, primary elections, declarations of can-
didacy, abstracts of votes in primary elections, duties of State Board of
Elections and duty of party authorities. {S 193]

Approved April 1, 1948

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That sections ninety-six as amended, one hundred four, one
hundred eighteen as amended, one hundred fifty-five as amended, one
hundred fifty-eight as amended, one hundred eighty-five, two hundred
twenty-four, two hundred thirty as amended, two hundred forty-one,
two hundred forty-three and two hundred forty-eight of the Code of
Virginia be amended and reenacted as follows:

Section 96. Oath of registrar—Each registrar shall, before enter-
ing upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe, before some officer
authorized by law to administer oaths, the oath of office prescribed in
the Constitution of this State, which oath he shall subscribe and file in
the clerk’s office of the circuit court of his county or the corporation
court of his city, and such registrar shall file a copy of such oath with
the secretary of his electoral board.

Section 104. Registrars to deliver books to judges of election;
fine for failure-——The registrar, at each place of voting, shall deliver to
the judges of election his registration books, not later than the time
prescribed in section one hundred fifty-two of the Code of Virginia for
the opening of the polls on election day; and after such election, the
judges of election shall turn over the registration books to the registrar,
who shall keep and preserve the same and the registration books shall
at all times be open to public inspection. Any registrar, negligently fail-
ing so to deliver his books, shall be fined thirty dollars ; and any registrar,
wilfully failing so to do, shall be fined not less than twenty nor more
than one hundred dollars, and imprisoned in jail not less than six nor
more than twelve months.

Section 118. Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, and Attorney Gen-
eral; term of office-—The Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, and Attorney
General, shall be chosen by the qualified voters of the Commonwealth
at the general election to be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday
in November, of the year one thousand nine hundred twenty-one, and
every fourth year thereafter, and shall hold their offices for a term of four
years, to commence on the third Wednesday of January following their
election.

Section 155. How and when ballots printed.—It shall be the duty
of the electoral boards of the several counties and cities of this State,
as soon as practicable after the secretary is officially notified of the
names of the candidates in any election, and at least thirty days prior to
any primary or general election, or in the case of a special election at
least thirty days prior to the election or as soon thereafter as possible to
cause to be printed a number of ballots equal to twice the number of
ballots cast in the last preceding election for President. In the magisterial
districts of a county or wards of a city, only the names of the candidates
to be voted for in the district or ward shall be placed on the ballots.
These ballots shall be white paper tickets without any distinguishing
mark or symbol, 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 candidacy, in due and
orderly succession, and the names on the ballot shall be in clear print,
in the same order and each name in a separate line, and the type used in
printing the ballots shall be plain roman type, not smaller than pica.
Immediately to the left and on the same line with the name of each
candidate shall be printed a square, not less than one-quarter, nor
more than one-half an inch in size, printed thus:

JOHN DOE

Hereafter it shall be the duty of the electoral boards, in preparing
the ballots for general, special and primary elections, to cause to be
printed in small type, immediately below the title of any officer for which
there appear on the ballots the names of more than one candidate a note
stating the number of candidates who may be voted for that office.

Section 158. Duties of electoral boards, seal, etc.—It shall be the
duty of the electoral board of each city and county to procure and adopt
a seal, if there be not one already adopted by the electoral board of
such city or county, which seal may be changed from time to time in
the discretion of the board, and shall not be less than two inches in diam-
eter. The board shall meet as soon as convenient after the printing of
the ballots as provided for in this chapter, at which meeting only mem-
bers of the board shall be present, and the member of the board who
shall have secured from the printer the ballots as required by section
one hundred and fifty-six shall deliver the ballots to the board, and
shall certify to the board the number of ballots so delivered which certi-
ficate shall be filed and also copied into the minutes of the meeting of the
board. The board shall satisfy itself as to the number of said ballots,
which number shall be entered by the secretary of the board in a book
provided by him and kept for such purpose. The board shall thereupon
designate one of its members, who shall cause the seal of the board to
be affixed in his presence to every ballot printed as provided in this
chapter, upon the side reverse from that upon which the names of the
candidates appear. Such member of the board shall make affidavit that
the seal of the electoral board was affixed to the ballots in his presence
in the manner prescribed by law, in which affidavit shall be set forth
the name of every person taking part in the affixing of the seal; and the
affidavit shall be filed with the board and a copy thereof entered upon the
minutes of the board. For his services in causing the seal to be affixed
to the ballots, the member of the board shall receive two dollars. Of the
ballots, the board shall cause to be made, in the presence of at least one
member of the board, as many packages as there are voting princincts in
said county or city, one for each precinct, which package shall contain
a number of ballots twice the number of the voters voting in the last pre-
ceding election for President at the precinct for which it is intended. Each
of these packages shall be securely sealed in the presence of a member of
the board so that the ballots shall be invisible, and so that they could
not be readily opened without detection. Upon each of said packages shall
be endorsed the name of the precinct for which it is intended and the
number of ballots therein contained. The packages designed for the
various precincts shall be delivered to the secretary of the board and
remain in his exclusive possession until delivered by him to the judges,
or one of the judges, of election of the several precincts as provided by
the following section, or until he shall have delivered the same to one of
the other members of the board to be delivered to the judge or judges
as required by this chapter. Every person taking part in affixing the
seal to the ballots or in placing said ballots in packages shall make
affidavit that he will faithfully perform his duties and that he will not
divulge to anyone the contents of such ballots or any part thereof, which
affidavits shall be filed with the secretary of the board and retained as
a part of the records of the board. The secretary of the electoral board
shall keep in his sole custody the seal or stamp of said board in a
sealed package, to be opened by him only when necessary for use in
stamping ballots. If any member of the board, other than the secretary
be designated to attend to the stamping of the ballots, the seal, as soon as
the stamping of the ballots is completed, shall be forthwith returned to
the secretary to be kept by him as herein provided.

Section 185. Abstracts of votes to be made out and certified; to
whom forwarded.—So soon as the commissioners aforesaid shall deter-
mine the persons who have received the highest number of votes for
any office, the clerk shall make out abstracts of the votes in the following
manner: First, for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor on one sheet;
second, for Attorney-General on one sheet; third, for member or mem-
bers of the Senate and House of Delegates on one sheet; fourth, for a
representative in Congress on one sheet; fifth, for electors of President
and Vice-President of the United States on one sheet; sixth, for
county officers on one sheet; seventh, for district officers on one sheet ;
eight, for corporation officers on one sheet, which abstracts, being certi-
fied and signed by said commissioners and attested by the clerk, shall
be deposited in the office of the latter, and certified copies thereof, num-
bered one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, (when said officers
have been voted for at said elections), under the official seal of said
clerk, shall be placed in separate envelopes, endorsed, and directed to
the State Board of Elections, and forwarded immediately to the seat of
government by mail; and the clerk shall endorse on the back of each
envelope in which the certified copies are endorsed: “Copy of the ab-
stracts of votes cast for Governor, and so forth (as the case may be),
cast at the general election in ................:0.:-sceessseses county (or city), in
di; deonsinnnnnenennnanesnensify , nineteen hundred and ...........................".. Any clerk
wilfully violating any of the provisions of this section, except those
relating to a representative in Congress and to electors for President
and Vice-President of the United States, shall be punished by a fine of
not less than one hundred nor more than one thousand dollars, and
by confinement in jail for a period of not less than thirty days nor more
than six months.

Section 224. How primaries are to be held—The primaries pro-
vided for in this chapter shall be held by three judges appointed for
each party participating from members of that party, by the electoral
boards of the respective cities and counties in the State, upon applica-
tion made by the duly constituted authorities of the party or parties desir-
ing to hold a primary under this law, in such manner as may be provided
by the party plan of such party or parties, one of which judges so
appointed shall act as clerk in the conduct of such primary so held, at
each of the several precincts as now designated or as may be hereafter
provided by law. No judge or clerk of any election held under this
chapter shall, during the progress of the same, attempt to influence any
voter to vote for or against any candidate. The primaries shall.be held
by three judges and two clerks, appointed as above provided, for
each party participating in said primary, if in the judgment of the
board the two clerks are necessary in order to have the vote cast at
any voting place. The judges so appointed for each party shall conduct
the primary for that party. All the provisions and requirements of the
Statutes of this State in relation to the holding of elections, the counting
of ballots, the making and certifying of returns and all other kindred
subjects shall apply to all primaries insofar as they are consistent with
this chapter. The courts of record of this State, and the judges thereof
in vacation, shall have jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of this chap-
ter by injunction, mandamus, prohibition, or any other proper remedy.
All the provisions of this Code, insofar as they relate to crimes against
the electoral franchise, are hereby made applicable to primaries except
when inconsistent with this chapter. Lists of qualified voters shall be
furnished the judges of the primary of each party participating in the
same manner as they are directed by law to be furnished the judges of
election. Each judge of a primary shall, before entering upon the dis-
charge of his duties, take an oath, which may be administered by any
judge, faithfully to discharge the duties of his office. In the event of
the absence from the voting place of any of the judges appointed by
the electoral board for one hour after the time prescribed in section one
hundred fifty-two of the Code of Virginia for the opening of the polls,
then the other judge or judges present shall appoint a substitute judge
or judges from duly qualified voters present of the party or parties hold-
ing the primary, and in the absence for two hours after the time prescrib-
ed in section one hundred fifty-two of the Code of Virginia for the open-
ing of the polls of all the judges appointed by the electoral board, then
three duly qualified voters belonging to the political party holding the
election may act as judges and conduct the election in the manner herein
prescribed. Any judge or clerk violating the provisions of this section
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

Section 230. Filing declaration of candidacy—Candidates for
nomination shall file their declaration with the chairman or chairmen
of the several committees of the respective parties, and it shall be the
duty of such chairman or chairmen to furnish to the electoral boards
charged with the duty of preparing and printing the primary ballots
the names of the candidates to be printed thereon, and such chairman
shall also furnish the State Board of Elections with the names of such
candidates; however such failure by the chairman to furnish the State
Board of Elections such name or names shall not invalidate the nomi-
nation of any candidate.

Section 241, Abstracts of votes to be made out and certified in
nomination of the United States senators; members of the House of
Representatives of the United States ; members of the General Assembly,
and State and other officers; to whom forwarded.—As soon as the
commissioners aforesaid shall determine the persons who have received
the highest number of votes for nomination to any such office, the
secretary shall immediately make out abstracts and certificates of the
votes cast for United States senators, members of the House of Repre-
sentatives, State officers, members of the General Assembly, county,
city and district officers (as the case may be) which abstracts being
certified and signed by said commissioners and attested by the secretary
shall be deposited in the office of the clerk of the court, under seal, and
certified copies thereof shall be placed in an envelope by the secretary and
forwarded by registered mail as follows: For United States senator and
State officers to the State Board of Elections; for members of the House
of Representatives of the United States, to the chairman of the con-
gressional district committee; for State senator to the chairman or sev-
eral chairmen, as the case may be, of the county or counties and cities
composing the senatorial district ; for member of the House of Delegates,
to the chairman, or several chairmen, of the county or counties and cities
comprising the district; and for county and city and district officers,
to the chairman of the county or city; and the secretary shall endorse
on the back of the envelope in which the certified copies are enclosed:
“Copy of the abstract of votes cast in the primary election in ..................
county (or city as the case may be) JOT eseeeeeeeeeeseeeeeettetettetttetee nineteen
hundred an .....0.........eeseeceeeeeeeeeeeereees

The chairman or chairmen hereinbefore referred to are the chairman
or chairmen of the political*party or parties under whose auspices the
primary is held.

Any secretary wilfully violating any of the provisions of this section
shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars or more
than one thousand dollars, or by confinement in jail for a period of not
less than thirty days nor more than six months.

The chairman or chairmen in the several instances aforesaid shall
ascertain and publish in some newspaper in the district, county or
city the names of the persons receiving the nomination. If from any
county, city, or congressional district the abstract of votes shall not have
been received within eight days after any primary by the chairman or
chairmen of the party holding the election, he or they, as the case may
be, shall dispatch a messenger to obtain a copy of the same from the
secretary of the Board of election commissioners, and the expense thereof
shall be borne by the council of the city or the board of supervisors of
the county wherein the delinquent secretary resides.

Section 243. If abstracts not forwarded, messenger to be sent for
them.—If from any county or city the abstract of votes shall not have
been received within twelve days after any State primary election by
the State Board of Elections, it shall dispatch a special messenger to
obtain a copy of the same from the secretary of the board of election
commissioners; and the secretary shall immediately, on demand of such
messenger, make out and deliver to him the copy required, which copy
of the abstract of votes the messenger shall deliver to the State Board
of Elections without delay.

The special messenger shall receive for his services and mileage, the
same compensation and mileage provided for a special messenger under
section one hundred and ninety of the general election laws, to be paid
upon warrant of the board of supervisors of the county or council of
the city, on the treasurer of such county or city, out of such funds as
may be provided for the expenses of the election.

Section 248. Duty of party authorities—lIt shall be the duty of
the chairman and secretary of the State central committee of every

, by writing signed by themselves, to notify the State Board of
Elections whether such committee has or has not adopted the direct
primary and to what candidates such adoption refers. In case the dis-
cretion of nominating Jocal candidates be vested in the local committees,
then it shall be the duty of the Chairman and secretary of such local
committee to notify the State Board of Elections of the action taken by
them in such regard; and the State Board of Elections shall thereupon
order the holding of a primary election in any county, city or other
district of the State in which he is so notified that a primary intended
to be held. The notification required by this section shall be made at
least thirty days before the date herein set for the primaries and, at all
primaries held under this chapter, each candidate may have a representa-
tive at the polls, except when there are more than two candidates, in
which case there shall be only two representatives, one to be appointed
by a majority of the candidates and the other by the minority of the
candidates.

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to require the county
and city treasurers to pay expenses of more than one primary held by
any one party for one election, but if any of the subordinate party com-
mittees call a primary at a date other than the date for the general
primary, then the expenses of the primary called by such subordinate
party committee shall be paid by the candidates themselves.

2. These sections as amended shall not operate to lessen or increase
the time within which declaration of candidacy shall be filed nor shall
the provisions thereof relative to the printing of ballots be applicable
to any election held prior to the first day of September, nineteen hundred
forty-eight.