Title 24.2, Title 24.2. Elections

The qualified voter shall fold each paper ballot with the names of the candidates and questions on the inside and hand the folded ballot to the appropriate officer of election. The officer shall place the ballot in the ballot container without any inspection except to assure hims…

The official paper ballot shall be used by a voter to cast his vote only in one of the following circumstances: 1. The official paper ballot is the only ballot in use in the precinct. 2. The official paper ballot is used by voters voting outside of the polling place pursuant to §…

The general registrar shall provide at each polling place on election day, for the voting system in use, a model of or materials displaying a portion of its ballot face. The model or materials shall be located on the table of one of the officers or in some other place accessible …

Write-in votes may be cast on voting equipment for any person whose name does not appear on the ballot as a candidate for the office being voted, subject to this section and the provisions of § 24.2-644 not in conflict with this section. Each write-in vote shall be entered in the…

A. Any qualified voter who requires assistance to vote by reason of physical disability or inability to read or write may, if he so requests, be assisted in voting. If he is blind, he may designate an officer of election or any other person to assist him. If he is unable to read …

A. Any qualified voter who is a person with a disability or who is age 65 or older shall be entitled to vote outside of the polling place in accordance with the provisions of this section. However, during a declared state of emergency related to a communicable disease of public h…

No officer of election shall sign or otherwise mark any paper, form, or item, other than one furnished by the State Board, his electoral board, or general registrar, at his polling place during the hours that the polls are open.

Any person who offers to vote, who is listed on the pollbook, and whose name is marked to indicate that he has already voted in person in the election shall cast a provisional ballot pursuant to § 24.2-653. The State Board of Elections shall provide instructions to the electoral …

A. When a person offers to vote and his name does not appear on the pollbook, the officers of election shall permit him to vote only if all of the following conditions are met: 1. An officer of election is informed by the general registrar that the voter is registered to vote, th…

A. Any person voting provisionally pursuant to subsection B of § 24.2-643, § 24.2-651.1, subsection B of § 24.2-652, or § 24.2-653.1 or 24.2-653.2 shall be given a printed ballot and provide, subject to the penalties for making false statements pursuant to § 24.2-1016, on a green…

A. The electoral board shall meet on the day following the election and determine whether each person having submitted a provisional vote pursuant to § 24.2-653 was entitled to do so as a qualified voter in the precinct in which he offered the provisional vote. In the case of per…

Any person who offers to vote pursuant to § 24.2-643 at his proper polling place or at a central absentee voter precinct established by the governing body of the county or city where he is registered to vote, but whose name is shown on the pollbook as having applied for an absent…

Whenever the polling hours are extended by an order of a court of competent jurisdiction, any ballots marked after the normal polling hours by persons who were not already in line at the time the polls would have closed, notwithstanding the court order, shall be treated as provis…

A. Any voter who is assigned to a precinct that is split between two or more election districts and believes he was given a ballot for the district of which he is not a qualified voter may request, prior to casting the ballot, and shall be permitted to cast a provisional ballot f…

As soon as the polls are closed, the officers of election shall lock each voting and counting machine against further voting. They shall then proceed to ascertain the vote given at the election and continue without adjournment until they declare the results of the election. They …

Before proceeding to ascertain the vote, the officers of election shall determine whether no more than two representatives of each political party having candidates in the election and one representative of each independent candidate or primary candidate request to be present whi…

In the presence of all persons who may be present lawfully at the time, giving full view of the voting systems or printed return sheets, the officers of election shall determine and announce the results as shown by the counters or printed return sheets, including the votes record…

If machines that print returns are used, the printed inspection sheet and two copies of the printed return sheet containing the results of the election for each machine shall be inserted in the envelope containing the statement of results by the officers of election and sealed an…

A. If the voting system is secured by the use of equipment keys, after the officers of election lock and seal each machine, the equipment keys shall be enclosed in an envelope that shall be sealed and have endorsed thereon a certificate of an officer of election stating the elect…

After the votes on all voting and counting equipment have been determined and recorded, the officers of election shall proceed to examine and count the paper ballots to ascertain if any double ballots have been cast, and whether the number of ballots corresponds with the number o…

If the ballots in the container exceed the number of names on the pollbooks of persons who voted on paper ballots, all ballots shall be replaced in the ballot container. Then, after the container is well shaken, an officer of election, being blindfolded, shall withdraw a sufficie…

If a printed ballot is found to have been voted for a greater number of names for any one office than the number of persons required to fill the office, or if the title of the office is erased, the ballot shall be considered void as to all the names designated to fill such office…

Whenever the number of ballots is reduced by fraudulent or void ballots below the number of names of qualified voters on the pollbooks who voted on paper ballots, the cause of such reduction shall be stated in the space provided on the statement of results.

A. When the number of paper ballots to be counted has been verified, the officers shall proceed to ascertain the number of votes cast by paper ballots for each person and for and against each question. The votes on all ballots for all offices and questions shall be counted. As so…

The State Board shall prescribe appropriate forms and procedures for use by the local electoral boards, general registrars, and officers of election to account for all paper ballots, used and unused.

At the conclusion of determining the votes cast on voting devices and paper ballots, the officers of election shall verify that all required data has been accurately entered, sign both copies of the statement of results, and affirm that the statement is complete and the informati…

A. The general registrar shall report to the Department for each precinct in his locality the number and results of absentee ballots cast by voters assigned to such precinct. Results from absentee voting and voting at the precinct on election day shall be reported separately. The…

A. After ascertaining the results and before adjourning, the officers shall put the pollbooks, the duplicate statements of results, and any printed inspection and return sheets in the envelopes provided by the State Board. The officers shall seal the envelopes and direct them to …

The clerk to whom the counted and uncounted ballots are delivered shall, without breaking the seal, deposit them in a secure place in his office, where they shall be kept for the time required by this section. He shall not allow the ballots to be inspected except (i) by an author…

If the officers of election fail to deliver the materials to the clerk of the circuit court, or to the principal office of the general registrar, as required by § 24.2-668 before the time for the electoral board to meet and open the returns, the clerk of the circuit court shall d…

A. Each electoral board shall meet at the clerk's or general registrar's office of the county or city for which they are appointed at or before 5:00 p.m. on the day after any election. The board may adjourn to another room of sufficient size in a public building to ascertain the …

A. For the purposes of this section: "Contested race" means an election for an office where more names appear on the ballot then there are vacancies to be filled or a statewide referendum or proposed constitutional amendment. "Risk limit" means the largest probability that the ri…

While ascertaining the results of an election, the electoral board may find that there are irregularities or informalities in the returns of the officers of election which can be cured by amending or correcting the returns. Then the board immediately shall summon, to appear befor…

A. Except as provided in subsection B or in the case of a recount pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 8 (§ 24.2-800 et seq.), in all elections for the choice of any officer, unless it is otherwise expressly provided, the person having the highest number of votes for any office …

A. For purposes of this section: "Ranked choice voting" means a method of casting and tabulating votes in which (i) voters rank candidates in order of preference, (ii) tabulation proceeds in rounds such that in each round either a candidate or candidates are elected or the last-p…

If, prior to a recount, two or more persons have an equal number of votes for any county, city, town, or district office, and a higher number than any other person, the electoral board shall proceed publicly to determine by lot which of the candidates shall be declared elected. I…

A. As soon as the electoral board determines the persons who have received the highest number of votes for any office, the secretary shall make out an abstract of the votes for each of the following: Governor; Lieutenant Governor; Attorney General; members of the Senate of Virgin…

Immediately after the electoral board has determined the election results, the secretary shall make out certificates of election for each county, city, town, or district office other than an office shared by more than one county or city, or any combination thereof. The secretary …

The State Board, on receipt of the certified abstracts of the votes given in the several counties and cities, shall open the abstracts and record and carefully preserve them. The provisions of Chapter 37 (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.) of Title 2.2, the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, …

If the State Board has not received the abstracts of votes from any county or city within 10 days after any election, it shall dispatch a law-enforcement officer to obtain a certified copy of the abstract from an official having charge thereof. That official shall immediately, on…

A. The State Board shall meet by the first Monday in December to ascertain the results of the November election. If a majority of the Board is not present or if, for any other reason, the Board is unable to ascertain the results on that day, the meeting shall stand adjourned from…

Subject to the requirements of § 24.2-948.2, the State Board shall without delay complete and transmit to each of the persons declared to be elected a certificate of his election, certified by it under its seal of office. In the election of a member of the United States Congress,…

All special elections shall be superintended and held, notice thereof given, ballots prepared, returns made and certified, votes canvassed, results ascertained and made known, and certificates of election given, by the same officers, under the same penalties, and subject to the s…

A. Notwithstanding any charter or special act to the contrary, the following provisions govern the times for holding special elections. Every special election shall be held on a Tuesday. No special election shall be held within the 55 days prior to a general or primary election. …

Whenever the Governor, Speaker of the House, President pro tempore of the Senate, or either house of the General Assembly orders a special election, he, or the person designated to act for the house, shall issue a writ of election designating the office to be filled at the electi…

Notwithstanding any other provision of any law or charter to the contrary, the provisions of this section shall govern all referenda. No referendum shall be placed on the ballot unless specifically authorized by statute or by charter. Whenever any question is to be submitted to t…