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2004 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 24.2-603.1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 24.2-603.1. Postponement of certain elections; state of emergency.
For purposes of this section, "election" means (i) any local or state
referendum, (ii) any primary, special, or general election for local or state
office except a general election for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney
General and the General Assembly, (iii) any primary for federal office
including any primary for the nomination of candidates for the office of President
of the United States, or (iv) any federal special election to fill a vacancy in
the United States Senate or the United States House of Representatives. In the event of a state
of emergency declared by the Governor pursuant to Chapter 3.2 (§ 44-146.13 et
seq.) of Title 44 or declared by the President of the United States or the governor
of another state pursuant to law and confirmed by the Governor by an executive
order, the Governor may postpone an election by executive order in areas
affected by the emergency to a date, notwithstanding the provisions of §
24.2-682, not to exceed fourteen 14 days from the original date of the
election.
If a local governing body determines that a longer postponement is required, it
may petition a three-judge panel of the Virginia Supreme Court, to include the
Chief Justice as the presiding Justice, for an extension. The Chief Justice
shall choose the other two Justices by lot. The Court may postpone the election
to a date it deems appropriate, notwithstanding the provisions of § 24.2-682,
not to exceed thirty 30 days from the original date of the election.
Only those persons duly registered to vote as of the original date of the election shall be entitled to vote in the rescheduled election.
If, as a direct result of the emergency, any ballots already cast at the
polling places or equipment on which ballots have been cast, or any voted absentee
ballots already received by the appropriate election officials or any equipment
on which absentee ballots have already been cast have been destroyed or
otherwise damaged so that such ballots cannot be counted by the counting device
or counted manually, the Governor (i) shall specify whether votes that such
ballots or votes previously cast by machinery or paper need to be recast on or
by the rescheduled election date. If the Governor determines that absentee
ballots do not need to be recast, so that they may be counted and (ii) shall
direct the appropriate election officials to immediately send replacement absentee ballots
to all absentee voters whose voted ballots are known to have been so destroyed or damaged.
Such instructions may be issued by executive order separately from the
executive order postponing the election. Any absentee ballots duly cast and
received by the original rescheduled election date and able to be counted shall
be valid and counted when determining the results of the rescheduled election;
however, if more than one absentee ballot is received from any
voter, only the first absentee ballot received and able to be counted shall be
counted. Any person who was duly registered to vote as of the original date of
the election, and who has not voted absentee, or who is permitted to recast
their ballot due to the emergency, may vote by absentee ballot in accordance
with the provisions of Chapter 7 (§ 24.2-700 et seq.) of this title in the
rescheduled election. Official ballots shall not be invalidated on the basis
that they contain the original election date.
If the postponement of the election is ordered after voting at the polls on the original election date has already commenced, all qualified voters in a precinct in which any voted ballots, voting equipment containing voted ballots or pollbooks recording who has already voted in that precinct have been destroyed or damaged as a direct result of the emergency, so that the votes cannot be counted or it cannot be determined who has already voted, shall be allowed to vote in the rescheduled election, and no votes cast at the polls on the original election date shall be counted. If the postponement of the election is ordered after voting at the polls on the original election date has already commenced and no ballots cast at the polls, voting equipment containing voted ballots or pollbooks recording who has already voted in that election in that precinct have been destroyed or damaged as a direct result of the emergency, only qualified voters who had not yet voted shall be eligible to vote on the rescheduled election day and all votes cast on the original and postponed election dates shall be counted at the close of the polls on the rescheduled election day.
The provisions of § 24.2-663 requiring the voiding of all ballots received from any voter who votes more than once in the same election shall not apply to ballots otherwise lawfully cast or recast pursuant to this section; however, no more than one ballot may be counted from any voter in the same election. If one ballot has already been counted, any additional ballots from the same voter shall be void and shall not be counted. The provisions of § 24.2-1004 or any other law prohibiting any voter from voting more than once in the same election, or any oath attesting to the same, shall not apply to ballots otherwise lawfully cast or recast pursuant to this section.
No results shall be tallied or votes counted in any postponed election before the closing of the polls on the rescheduled election date. Officers of election in unaffected areas shall count and report the results for the postponed election after the close of the polls on the rescheduled election date. The counting may take place at the precinct or another location determined by the local electoral board.
The State Board shall prescribe appropriate procedures to implement this section.