Title 24.2, Title 24.2. Elections

The electoral board or the general registrar shall provide and have posted outside each polling place appropriate signs to direct people with disabilities and elderly persons to any special entrance designed for their use.

If an emergency causes the dimensions of the prohibited area for a polling place to be perceived as increasing the risk of danger for persons outside the polling place, the electoral board may modify the distance requirements for the prohibited area, subject to the prior approval…

A. The local electoral board, or its general registrar, may conduct a special election day page program for high school students in one or more polling places designated by the electoral board or the general registrar, which may include a central absentee voter precinct. Students…

A. The officers of election shall permit one authorized representative of each political party or independent candidate in a general or special election, or one authorized representative of each candidate in a primary election, to remain in the room in which the election is being…

A. A local electoral board or general registrar may authorize in writing the presence in the polling place of additional neutral observers as may be deemed appropriate, except as otherwise prohibited or limited by the provisions of § 24.2-604. Such observers shall comply with the…

Minors may be permitted to enter a polling place on the day of the election to vote in a simulated election at that polling place, provided that the local electoral board or general registrar has determined that such polling place can accommodate simulated election activities wit…

Notwithstanding any contrary statute or ordinance of a county, city, or town, except for school purposes or in an emergency, no loudspeaker shall be used within 300 feet of a polling place on an election day. Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemea…

The officers of election, with the consent of the chief law-enforcement officer for the county or city, may designate a law-enforcement officer who shall attend at the polling place and preserve order inside and outside the polling place.

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to hinder, intimidate, or interfere with any qualified voter so as to prevent the voter from casting a secret ballot. The officers of election may order a person violating this subsection to cease such action. If such person does not promptl…

The officers of election shall promptly decide any dispute as to the order in which qualified voters may vote, deciding who first offered, or if two or more offered at the same time, selecting the one who may vote first.

Each electoral board or general registrar shall provide at each polling place in the county or city one or more voting booths. At least one booth shall be an enclosure which permits the voter to vote by printed ballot in secret and is equipped with a writing surface, operative wr…

A. The Department shall provide copies of this title to each member of the electoral boards and to each general registrar for each precinct in the county or city. The general registrar shall furnish a copy of this title to each precinct for the use of the officers of election on …

A. The following oath shall be on a form prescribed by the State Board, administered to all officers of election, and kept by the officers of election with the pollbook: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will perform the duties for this election according to law and the bes…

Immediately after the expiration of the time provided by law for a candidate for any office to qualify to have his name printed on the official ballot and prior to printing the ballots for an election, each general registrar shall forward to the Department of Elections a list of …

In the case of the death, withdrawal, or disqualification of any candidate, other than a party nominee, who has qualified to have his name printed on the ballot for any election other than a presidential or primary election, the Department of Elections shall take into account the…

A candidate who has qualified to have his name printed on the ballot for an election shall not be deemed to have withdrawn from such election until he has submitted a signed and notarized notice declaring his intent to withdraw from such election and that notice has been received…

A. The ballots shall comply with the requirements of this title and the standards prescribed by the State Board. The names of all candidates to appear on the ballots shall be in the same font, size, and style. B. For elections for federal, statewide, and General Assembly offices …

As soon as practicable after the seventy-fourth day before the presidential election, the State Board shall certify to the general registrar of each county and city the form of official ballot for the presidential election which shall be uniform throughout the Commonwealth. Each …

A separate question shall be presented for each of the following: proposed amendments to the Constitution submitted to the qualified voters at one election; proposals submitted to the qualified voters after a constitutional convention pursuant to Article XII, Section 2 of the Con…

The printer contracting with or employed by the electoral board or general registrar to print the ballots shall sign a statement before the work is commenced agreeing, subject to felony penalties for making false statements pursuant to § 24.2-1016, that he will print the number o…

The electoral board or general registrar shall designate one person to be continuously present in the room in which the ballots are printed from the start to the end of the work and ensure that the undertakings of the printer's statement are complied with strictly. For the discha…

A member of the electoral board or the general registrar, or an employee of the board or general registrar designated by the electoral board or the general registrar, shall receive the ballots after they are printed and shall certify the number of ballots received. This certifica…

A member of the electoral board or the general registrar, or some other person designated by the electoral board or the general registrar, shall cause the seal of the board to be affixed in his presence to every ballot printed as provided in this chapter. The seal shall be on the…

The electoral board or general registrar shall cause to be made, in the presence of at least one member of the board or a designee of the board, one or more packages of ballots for each precinct in the election district. Each package shall contain a number of ballots determined b…

Before every election the secretary of the electoral board, or another board member, board employee, or the general or a deputy registrar designated by the board, shall deliver to an officer of election of each precinct the official ballots for that precinct and obtain a receipt …

Sample ballots not authorized by electoral boards and provided by electoral boards or general registrars to precincts pursuant to § 24.2-641 are permitted to be printed and circulated, which includes publication in newspapers or on the Internet. Such sample ballots shall not be p…

The governing body of each county and city shall provide a ballot container for each precinct. The container shall have a lock and key and an opening of sufficient size to admit a single folded or unfolded ballot and no more. The containers shall be kept by the electoral boards f…

Immediately before the opening of the polls, an officer of election shall open the ballot containers in the presence of the political party or candidate representatives authorized to be present for the examination of voting equipment pursuant to § 24.2-639, if such representative…

All of the provisions of this title and general law not inconsistent with the provisions of this article shall apply to elections in counties, cities, and towns adopting and using electronic voting or counting machines.

A. Records of the State Board of Elections or of a local electoral board, to the extent such records describe protocols for maintaining the security of ballots or voting and counting equipment, or reveal the results of risk assessments of specific local electoral procedures, the …

There shall be no wireless communications on election day, while the polls are open, between or among voting machines within the polling place or between any voting machine within the polling place and any equipment outside the polling place. For purposes of this section, the ter…

A. The governing body of each county and city shall provide for the use of electronic voting systems, of a kind approved by the State Board, at every precinct and for all elections held in the county, the city, or any part of the county or city. Each county and city governing bod…

The governing body of any county or city shall provide for the use of a voting or counting system in all elections that shall: 1. Provide for at least one voting system equipped for individuals with disabilities at each polling place, including nonvisual accessibility for the bli…

A. The governing body of any county or city that adopts for use at elections ballot scanner machines shall provide for each precinct at least one voting booth with a marking device for each 425 registered voters or portion thereof and shall provide for each precinct at least one …

A. Any person, firm, or corporation, referred to in this article as the "vendor," manufacturing, owning, or offering for sale any electronic voting or counting machine and ballots designed to be used with such equipment may apply to the State Board, in the manner prescribed by th…

With the approval of the State Board, the governing body of any county, city, or town may provide for the experimental use at an election in one or more election districts or precincts of a voting or counting system which it might legally adopt without a formal adoption thereof, …

The State Board is authorized to approve the experimental use of voting or counting systems and ballots for the purpose of casting and counting absentee ballots in one or more counties and cities designated by the Board (i) that have established central absentee voter election di…

A. For the purpose of programming and preparing voting and counting equipment, including the programming of any electronic activation devices or data storage media used to program or operate the equipment, and maintaining, testing, calibrating, and delivering it, the electoral bo…

Before the final testing of voting or counting machines for any election, the general registrar shall mail written notice (i) to the chairman of the local committee of each political party, or (ii) in a primary election, to the chairman of the local committee of the political par…

When voting equipment has been properly prepared for an election, it shall be locked against voting and sealed, or if a voting or counting machine cannot be sealed with a numbered seal, it shall be locked with a key. The equipment keys and any electronic activation devices shall …

In each county, city, or town in which voting or counting equipment is to be used, the electoral board or general registrar may designate times and places for the exhibition of equipment containing sample ballots, showing the title of offices to be filled, and, so far as practica…

No fewer than three nor more than 30 days before each election, the electoral board or general registrar shall instruct, or cause to be instructed, on the use of the equipment and his duties in connection therewith, each officer of election appointed to serve in the election who …

Before the time to open the polls, each electoral board shall ensure that the general registrar has the voting and counting equipment and all necessary furniture and materials at the polling places, with counters on the voting or counting devices set at zero (000), and otherwise …

During the election, the exterior of the voting equipment and every part of the polling place shall be in plain view of the officers of election. No voting or counting machines shall be removed from the plain view of the officers of election or from the polling place at any time …

The officers of election of each precinct at which voting systems are used shall meet at the polling place by 5:15 a.m. on the day of the election and arrange the equipment, furniture, and other materials for the conduct of the election. The officers of election shall verify that…

The electoral board or general registrar shall provide for each precinct in which any voting or counting machines are used two sample ballots for each ballot style in use at that precinct. Such sample ballots shall be posted for public inspection at each polling place during the …