10100891D
SENATE BILL NO. 53
Offered January 13, 2010
Prefiled January 4, 2010
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 8.01-346 and 24.2-428 of the Code of Virginia, relating to registered voters; disqualified jurors; report.
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Patron-- Martin
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Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That §§ 8.01-346 and 24.2-428 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§8.01-346. Lists to be delivered to clerk and safely kept by him; addition and removal of names.

The list so prepared shall be delivered to the clerk of the court to be safely kept by him. The list shall include a notation indicating those persons who are freeholders. The judge may from time to time order the commissioners to add to the list such additional number of jurors as the court shall direct and to strike therefrom any who have become disqualified or exempt. The clerk shall furnish monthly to the State Board of Elections a list of all jurors from whom the clerk has received notice that a juror has become disqualified to serve due to no longer being a resident of Commonwealth or of the locality in which they are summoned to serve.

§24.2-428. Regular periodic review of registration records; notice to voters identified as having moved; placement on inactive status for failure to respond to notice.

A. The State Board shall establish a voter list maintenance program using the change of address information supplied by the United States Postal Service through its licensees, the clerk of the court pursuant to §8.01-346, or by other reliable sources to identify voters whose addresses may have changed. Any such program shall be regular and periodic and shall be conducted at least annually. The program shall be completed not later than ninety 90 days prior to the date of a federal primary or federal general election.

B. If it appears from information provided by the Postal Service, the clerk of court pursuant to §8.01-346, or by other reliable sources that a voter has moved to a different address in the same county or city in which the voter is currently registered, the State Board of Elections shall provide to the general registrar the information necessary to change the registration records to show the new address, and the State Board of Elections or the general registrar shall send to the new address of the voter by forwardable mail, a notice of the change, along with a postage prepaid, pre-addressed return card by which the voter may verify or correct the address information.

C. If it appears from information provided by the Postal Service, the clerk of the court pursuant to §8.01-346, or by other reliable sources that a voter has moved to a different address not in the same county or city, the State Board of Elections or the general registrar shall send to the last known address of the voter by forwardable mail, a notice on a form prescribed by the State Board, along with a postage prepaid and pre-addressed return card on which the voter may state his current address.

D. The registered voter shall complete and sign the return card subject to felony penalties for making false statements pursuant to § 24.2-1016.

E. The general registrar shall correct his registration records from the information obtained from the return card. If the information indicates that the registered voter has moved to another general registrar's jurisdiction within the Commonwealth, the general registrar shall transfer the registration record, along with the return card, to the appropriate general registrar who shall treat the request for a change of address as a request for transfer and shall send a voter registration card as confirmation of the transfer to the voter pursuant to §24.2-424. If the general registrar does not receive the return card provided for in subsection C of this section within thirty 30 days after it is sent to the voter, the registered voter's name shall be placed on inactive status. A registered voter's failure to receive the notice shall not affect the validity of the inactivation.