Bill Text: VA SB361 | 2014 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Elections; provisional ballots, meeting of electoral board following election, adjournment.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2014-04-01 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0486) [SB361 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2014-SB361-Chaptered.html
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia: 1. That §§24.2-653 and 24.2-671 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows: §24.2-653. Voter whose name does not appear on pollbook or who is marked as having voted; handling of provisional ballots; ballots cast after normal close of polls due to court order extending polling hours. A. When a person offers to vote pursuant to §24.2-652 and the general registrar is not available or cannot state that the person is registered to vote, then such person shall be allowed to vote by paper ballot in the manner provided in this section. This procedure shall also apply when required by §24.2-643 or 24.2-651.1. Such person shall be given a paper ballot and provide, subject to the penalties for making false statements pursuant to §24.2-1016, on a green envelope supplied by the State Board, the identifying information required on the envelope, including his social security number, if any, full name including the maiden or any other prior legal name, date of birth, complete address, and signature. Such person shall be asked to present one of the forms of identification specified in subsection B of §24.2-643. The officers of election shall note on the green envelope whether or not the voter has presented one of the specified forms of identification. The officers of election shall enter the appropriate information for the person in the precinct provisional ballots log in accordance with the instructions of the State Board but shall not enter a consecutive number for the voter on the pollbook nor otherwise mark his name as having voted. The officers of election shall provide an application for registration to the person offering to vote in the manner provided in this section. The voter shall then, in the presence of an officer of election, but in a secret manner, mark the ballot as provided in §24.2-644 and seal it in the green envelope. The envelope containing the ballot shall then promptly be placed in the ballot container by an officer of election. An officer of election, by a written notice given to the
voter, shall (i) inform him that a determination of his right to vote shall be
made by the electoral board, (ii) advise the voter of the beginning time and
place for the board's meeting and of the voter's right to be present at that
meeting, and (iii) inform a voter voting provisionally when required by §
24.2-643 that he may submit a copy of one of the forms of identification
specified in subsection B of §24.2-643 to the electoral board by facsimile,
electronic mail, in-person submission, or timely United States Postal Service
or commercial mail delivery, to be received by the electoral board no later
than noon on the third day after the election. At the meeting, the voter may
request an extension of the determination of the provisional vote B. The provisional votes submitted pursuant to subsection A, in their unopened envelopes, shall be sealed in a special envelope marked "Provisional Votes," inscribed with the number of envelopes contained therein, and signed by the officers of election who counted them. All provisional votes envelopes shall be delivered either (i) to the clerk of the circuit court who shall deliver all such envelopes to the secretary of the electoral board or (ii) to the general registrar in localities in which the electoral board has directed delivery of election materials to the general registrar pursuant to §24.2-668. The electoral board shall meet on the day following the
election and determine whether each person having submitted such a provisional
vote was entitled to do so as a qualified voter in the precinct in which he
offered the provisional vote. If the board is unable to determine the validity
of all the provisional ballots offered in the election, or has granted any
voter who has offered a provisional ballot an extension 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 shall be permitted to remain in the room in which the determination is being made as an observer so long as he does not participate in the proceedings and does not impede the orderly conduct of the determination. Each authorized representative shall be a qualified voter of any jurisdiction of the Commonwealth. Each representative, who is not himself a candidate or party chairman, shall present to the electoral board a written statement designating him to be a representative of the party or candidate and signed by the county or city chairman of his political party, the independent candidate, or the primary candidate, as appropriate. Such statement, bearing the chairman's or candidate's original signature, may be photocopied and such photocopy shall be as valid as if the copy had been signed. Notwithstanding the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (§2.2-3700 et seq.), attendance at meetings of the electoral board to determine the validity of provisional ballots shall be permitted only for the authorized representatives provided for in this subsection, for the persons whose provisional votes are being considered and their representative or legal counsel, and for appropriate staff and legal counsel for the electoral board. If the electoral board determines that such person was not entitled to vote as a qualified voter in the precinct in which he offered the provisional vote, is unable to determine his right to vote, or has not been provided one of the forms of identification specified in subsection B of § 24.2-643, the envelope containing his ballot shall not be opened and his vote shall not be counted. The provisional vote shall be counted if (a) such person is entitled to vote in the precinct pursuant to §24.2-401 or (b) the State Board or the voter presents proof that indicates the voter submitted an application for registration to the Department of Motor Vehicles or other state-designated voter registration agency prior to the close of registration pursuant to §24.2-416 and the registrar determines that the person was qualified for registration based upon the application for registration submitted by the person pursuant to subsection A. The general registrar shall notify in writing pursuant to §24.2-114 those persons found not properly registered or whose provisional vote was not counted. If the electoral board determines that such person was entitled to vote, the name of the voter shall be entered in a provisional votes pollbook and marked as having voted, the envelope shall be opened, and the ballot placed in a ballot container without any inspection further than that provided for in §24.2-646. On completion of its determination, the electoral board shall proceed to count such ballots and certify the results of its count. Its certified results shall be added to those found pursuant to §24.2-671. No adjustment shall be made to the statement of results for the precinct in which the person offered to vote. The certification of the results of the count together with all ballots and envelopes, whether open or unopened, and other related material shall be delivered by the electoral board to the clerk of the circuit court and retained by him as provided for in §§24.2-668 and 24.2-669. C. 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 provisional ballots under this section. The officers of election shall mark the green envelope for each such provisional ballot to indicate that it was cast after normal polling hours due to the court order, and when preparing the materials to deliver to the registrar or electoral board, shall separate these provisional ballots from any provisional ballots used for any other reason. The electoral board shall treat these provisional ballots as provided in subsection B; however, the counted and uncounted provisional ballots marked after the normal polling hours shall be kept separate from all other ballots and recorded in a separate provisional ballots pollbook. The State Board of Elections shall provide instructions to the electoral boards for the handling and counting of such provisional ballots pursuant to this section. §24.2-671. Electoral board to meet and ascertain results; conclusiveness of results. 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 results,
and may adjourn The board shall open the returns delivered by the officers. If the electoral board has exercised the option provided by § 24.2-668 for delivery of the election materials to the office of the general registrar on the night of the election, the electoral board shall meet at the office of the general registrar at or before 5:00 p.m. on the day after any election. The board shall ascertain from the returns the total votes in the county or city, or town in a town election, for each candidate and for and against each question and complete the abstract of votes cast at such election, as provided for in §24.2-675. For any office in which no person was elected by write-in votes, and for which the total number of write-in votes for that office is less than (i) five percent of the total number of votes cast for that office and (ii) the total number of votes cast for the candidate receiving the most votes, the electoral board shall ascertain the total votes for each write-in candidate for the office within one week following the election. For offices for which the electoral board issues the certificate of election, the result so ascertained, signed and attested, shall be conclusive and shall not thereafter be subject to challenge except as specifically provided in Chapter 8 (§24.2-800 et seq.) of this title. Once the result is so ascertained, the secretary of the electoral board shall deliver one copy of each statement of results to the general registrar to be available for inspection when his office is open for business. The secretary shall then return all pollbooks, any printed inspection and return sheets, and one copy of each statement of results to the clerk. Beginning with the general election in November 2007, a report of any changes made by the local electoral board to the unofficial results ascertained by the officers of election or any subsequent change to the official abstract of votes made by the local electoral board shall be forwarded to the State Board of Elections and the explanation of such change shall be posted on the State Board website. Each political party and each independent candidate on the ballot, or each primary candidate, shall be entitled to have representatives present when the local electoral board meets to ascertain the results of the election. Each such party and candidate shall be entitled to have at least as many representatives present as there are teams of officials working to ascertain the results, and the room in which the local electoral board meets shall be of sufficient size and configuration to allow the representatives reasonable access and proximity to view the ballots as the teams of officials work to ascertain the results. The representatives and observers lawfully present shall be prohibited from interfering with the officials in any way. |
