CHAPTER 135

An Act to provide for the submission of proposed amendments to Secs. 1
and 2 of Article XVII of the Constitution of Virginia to the qualified
voters for ratification or rejection, and to prescribe when and how such
referendum shall be had, and the manner in which the results thereof
shall be ascertained and certified, the returns canvassed, and the vote
thereon proclaimed by the Governor.

(S 123]

Approved March 2, 1960

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. It shall be the duty of the officers conducting the election directed
by law to be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November,
nineteen hundred sixty, at the places appointed for holding the same, to
open a poll and take the sense of the qualified voters upon the ratification
or rejection of the proposed amendments to the Constitution of Virginia,
contained in the joint resolution proposing the said amendments to the
Constitution of Virginia, and directing a submission of said proposed
amendments to the people for their approval and ratification, to wit:

Strike from the Constitution of Virginia Sec. 1 of Article XVII there-
of, which is as follows:

Sec. 1. Certain members of armed forces exempt from payment of
poll tax and from registering as condition of right to vote—No member
of the armed forces of the United States, while in active service in time of
war, shall be required to pay a poll tax or to register as a prerequisite to the
right to vote in any and all elections, including legalized primary elections.

And insert in lieu thereof the following:

Sec. 1. No member of the armed forces of the United States, while in
active service, shall be required to pay a poll tax or to register as a pre-
requisite to the right to vote in any and all elections, including legalized
primary elections.

Strike from the Constitution of Virginia Sec. 2 of Article XVII there-
of, which is as follows:

Sec. 2. Relief from the assessment and payment of poll taxes as affect-
ing the armed forces in certain cases.—All poll taxes for the years 1942,
1943, and 1944, assessed or assessable against any person who is, or who at
any time during the existing World War II has been, a member of the
armed forces of the United States in active service, are hereby canceled
and annulled.

And, also, all poll taxes assessed or otherwise assessable for every
year during any part of which such person is a member of said forces
in active service during said war or any future war, and, also, for the
three years next preceding such person’s discharge from said active
service, provided such discharge is not dishonorable, although such person
was not in said service during all of said years, are hereby canceled and
annulled. Members of the armed forces of the United States in active
service in time of war shall be exempt from future assessments of poll
taxes by this State for all years during a part of which they are hereafter
engaged in such service.

And insert in lieu thereof the following:

Sec. 2. All poll taxes for the years 1942, 1943, and 1944, assessed or
assessable against any person who is, or who at any time during the exist-
ing World War II has been, a member of the armed forces of the United
States in active service, are hereby canceled and annulled.

And, also, all poll taxes assessed or otherwise assessable for every
year during any part of which such person is a member of said forces in
active service during said war or any future war, and, also for the three
years next preceding such person’s discharge from said active service,
provided such discharge is not dishonorable, although such person was not
in said service during all of said years, are hereby canceled and annulled.
Members of the armed forces of the United States in active service shall
be exempt from future assessments of poll taxes by this State for all
years during a part of which they are hereafter engaged in such service.

SCHEDULE

At such election a ballot shall be furnished each voter which shall
have printed thereon the following:

Question: Shall sections one and two of Article XVII of the Con-
stitution of Virginia be amended so as to permit an exemption for all
members of the armed forces of the United States from the payment of poll
tax and from registering as condition of right to vote and relief from the
assessment and payment of such poll tax.
The ballot shall be prepared, distributed and voted, and the results
thereof ascertained and certified, in the manner prescribed by § 24-141 of
the Code of Virginia. It shall be the duty of the clerks and commissioners
of election of each county and city, respectively, to make out, certify and
forward an abstract of the votes cast for and against said proposed
amendments in the manner now prescribed by law in relation to votes cast
in general elections.

It shall be the duty of the State Board of Elections to open and canvass
the said abstracts of returns, and to examine and make statement of
the whole number of votes given at said election for said proposed amend-
ments and against said proposed amendments, respectively, in the manner
now prescribed by law in relation to votes cast in general elections; and
it shall be the duty of the State Board of Elections to record said certified
statement in its office, and without delay to make out and transmit to the
Hovernor of the Commonwealth an official copy of said statement, certified

y it.

The Governor shall, without delay, make proclamation of the result,
stating therein the aggregate vote for and against said amendments, to be
published in such newspapers in the State as may be deemed requisite for
general information; and if a majority of said votes be cast for the
ratification of the amendments, he shall annex to his proclamation a copy
thereof. The State Board of Elections shall cause to be sent to the clerks
of each county and corporation, at least thirty days before the election,
as many copies of this act as there are places of voting herein; and it
shall be the duty of such clerks to forthwith deliver the same to the
sheriffs or sergeants of their respective counties and cities for distribution.
Each such sheriff or sergeant shall forthwith post a copy of such act at
some public place in each election district at or near the usual voting place
in the said district.

The expenses incurred in conducting this election shall be defrayed
as in the case of the election of members of the General Assembly.