Title 24.2, Elections

The contestee shall, within ten days after the complaint is served on him, file in the clerk's office an answer, in which he shall admit or deny the allegations on which the contestant relies, or state that he has no knowledge or information concerning an allegation which shall b…

After service of a copy of the complaint and after reasonable notice to the other party or parties, any party shall be authorized to take depositions to sustain or invalidate the election. The proceedings shall take precedence over all other business of the court or of any of the…

When the contest is decided, costs shall be taxed against the candidate filing the complaint if he is unsuccessful, or, if he is successful, against the counties and cities included in the area in which the election was held. A certificate of election shall be granted to the succ…

If the court decides that there has been no valid election of any person, it shall declare the election void and the vacancy shall be filled in conformity with §§ 24.2-226 and 24.2-227.

In deciding any contest of a primary election, if the court can determine the candidate who has received a plurality of valid votes in the primary, it shall certify the name of that candidate to the State Board and the proper electoral board or boards. The candidate so certified …

A candidate in a primary or an election to office, who was originally declared a winner and subsequently loses as the result of a recount, may file either (i) notice of his intent to contest the result in accordance with § 24.2-803 or 24.2-804 or (ii) a written complaint pursuant…

A. Any person who, by bribery, intimidation, threats, coercion, or other means in violation of the election laws willfully and intentionally hinders or prevents, or attempts to hinder or prevent, an election official or the employee of an election official from administering elec…

A. If any officer of election, member of an electoral board, or other person on whom any duty is enjoined by law relative to any election, is guilty of willful neglect of his duty, he shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. B. If any person listed in subsection A is guilty of a…

In addition to any other penalties provided by law, any member of an electoral board who fails or refuses to certify the results of an election is subject to a civil penalty in an amount not exceeding $1,000. Such civil penalty shall be payable to the Voter Education and Outreach…

Any person who, by threats or force, interferes with or attempts to interfere with (i) any registrar in the discharge of his duty, (ii) any person applying to register or declining to apply to register, or (iii) any person going to or leaving a registration location as defined in…

If any person (i) agrees to mail or deliver a signed voter registration application to the voter registrar or other appropriate person authorized to receive the application and (ii) intentionally interferes with the applicant's effort to register either by destroying the applicat…

Any person who discloses or makes any use of the social security number, or any part thereof, of any applicant for voter registration, except as authorized by law for official use, shall be guilty of a Class 5 felony.

Any person who gives or tenders any campaign or referendum materials to, or solicits or attempts to influence the vote of, any person while he is at any registration location as defined in Article 3 (§ 24.2-411 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of this title knowing that such person is there…

A. Any person who wrongfully deposits a ballot in the ballot container or casts a vote on any voting equipment, is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. B. Any person who intentionally (i) votes more than once in the same election, whether those votes are cast in Virginia or in Virgin…

A. Any person who intimidates, threatens, or coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce, any other person in giving his vote or ballot or who intimidates, threatens, or coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce a voter to deter or prevent him from votin…

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to communicate to a registered voter, by any means, false information, knowing the same to be false, intended to impede the voter in the exercise of his right to vote. The provisions of this section shall apply to information only about the …

A. Any person acting under the color of law who, contrary to an official policy or procedure, fails to permit, or refuses to permit, a qualified voter to vote, including a voter who is confined while awaiting trial or for having been convicted of a misdemeanor, or who willfully f…

Except as provided by § 24.2-649, no person shall directly or indirectly advise or assist any voter as to how he shall cast his ballot after the voter has entered the prohibited area at the polls as designated in § 24.2-604. Any person violating the provisions of this section sha…

A. No person shall solicit or accept directly or indirectly any money or any thing of value (i) to influence his or another's vote in any election or (ii) in exchange for his or another's decision to register or not register to vote. Any person violating the provisions of this se…

Any person who (i) wrongfully sells or gives to any person an official ballot or copy or a facsimile of or device or plate used to reproduce such ballot or (ii) counterfeits or attempts to counterfeit the official ballot or the seal used on that ballot, shall be guilty of a Class…

Any person who (i) steals or willfully, fraudulently, or wrongfully tampers with any part of any ballot container, voting or registration equipment, records, or documents, which are used in any way within the registration or election process, (ii) steals or willfully, fraudulentl…

Any unauthorized person found in possession of any voting equipment key or electronic activation device of the type used to prepare or operate voting equipment or any unauthorized person who duplicates a voting equipment key or electronic activation device shall be guilty of a Cl…

It shall be unlawful for any person to carry the official ballot furnished him by the officers of the election further than the voting booth, and should he, after receiving the ballot, conclude not to vote, he shall immediately return the ballot to the officers. Any person who (i…

Any person who knowingly aids or abets or attempts to aid or abet a violation of the absentee voting procedures prescribed in § 24.2-649 and Chapter 7 (§ 24.2-700 et seq.) shall be guilty of a Class 5 felony. Any person attempting to vote by fraudulently signing the name of a qua…

If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, intimidate, prevent, or hinder any citizen of this Commonwealth in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the provisions of this title, or because of his having so exercised such rig…

Any willfully false material statement or entry made by any person in any statement, form, or report required by this title shall constitute the crime of election fraud and be punishable as a Class 5 felony. Any preprinted statement, form, or report shall include a statement of s…

Any conduct made unlawful by this title, for which no punishment has been otherwise provided, shall be a Class 1 misdemeanor.

No witness called by the court or attorney for the Commonwealth and giving evidence for the prosecution, either before a grand jury or the court in any prosecution under this title, shall ever be proceeded against for any offense made penal by the provisions of this title and com…

Any complaint or allegation concerning unlawful conduct under this title shall be filed with the attorney for the Commonwealth of the county or city in which the alleged violation occurred. In the case of a complaint or allegation concerning the filing of a false statement in a v…

A. This chapter may be cited as the "Voting Rights Act of Virginia." B. For purposes of this chapter, "Protected class" means a group of citizens protected from discrimination based on race or color or membership in a language minority group. "Racially polarized voting" means the…

A. No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, law, ordinance, rule, standard, practice, or procedure shall be enacted or implemented by the state or any locality in a manner that results in, is likely to result in, or is intended to result in a denial or abridgement of th…

A. The governing body of any locality shall not impose or apply any method of election in a manner that has the effect of impairing the equal opportunity or ability of members of a protected class to nominate or elect candidates of their choice or to influence the outcome of an e…

A. In determining whether, under the totality of the circumstances, a violation of § 24.2-126 or 24.2-126.1 has occurred with respect to a protected class, a court may consider one or more of the following factors: (i) the history of discrimination affecting members of the protec…

All statutes, rules and regulations, and local laws and ordinances relating to the right to vote shall be construed or applied liberally in favor of protecting the right of voters to have their ballot cast and counted, ensuring that eligible voters are not impaired in registering…

A. The State Board shall designate a county, city, or town as a covered locality if it determines, in consultation with the Director of the Census, on the basis of the 2010 American Community Survey census data and subsequent American Community Survey data in five-year increments…

A. For the purposes of this section: "Certification of no objection" means a certification issued by the Attorney General that there is no objection to the enactment or administration of a covered practice by a locality because the covered practice neither has the purpose or effe…

A. Any individual aggrieved by a violation of this chapter, any organization whose membership includes members of a protected class or individuals aggrieved by a violation of this chapter, any organization whose mission would be frustrated by a violation of this chapter, or any o…

There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Voter Outreach and Education Fund, referred to in this section as "the Fund." The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller. All penalties and charges directed to this fun…

Each nominated elector selected pursuant to this article shall, at the time of his nomination and until the conclusion of the day electors cast their votes in the Electoral College, be a citizen of the United States and a legal resident of the Commonwealth, and shall subscribe to…

A. In elections for President and Vice President of the United States, the appropriate chairman or secretary of each political party as defined in § 24.2-101 shall furnish to the State Board by noon on the seventy-fourth day before the presidential election (i) the names of the i…

A. A group of qualified voters, not constituting a political party as defined in § 24.2-101, may have the names of nominated electors selected by them, which shall include one elector residing in each congressional district and two from the Commonwealth at large, printed upon the…

A. Balloting for the Commonwealth's electors for President and Vice President of the United States shall occur at the general election in November 2028 and every fourth year thereafter. The number of electors to be appointed shall equal the whole number of senators and representa…

A. The electors shall convene at the Capitol building in the capital city of the Commonwealth at noon on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December following their election. B. Those electors present shall immediately fill, by ballot and by a plurality of votes, any…

If Congress establishes a different day for choosing electors, or appoints a different day for their meeting to give their votes, then the election shall be held and the meeting of the electors shall take place on those days.

Each elector shall receive the sum of $50 per day while actually engaged in the discharge of his official duties and the same mileage as is allowed to members of the General Assembly.

This chapter may be cited as the Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act.