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Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2007 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 30-19.10 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 30-19.10. Distribution of information on proposed questions to be submitted to voters.
Whenever a statewide referendum on a matter other than a
constitutional amendment is submitted to the voters by the General Assembly,
the State Board of Elections shall cause to be printed and distributed to the
general registrar of each county and city, not less than ninety days prior to
the election, copies of an explanation of information about the
referendum to be placed at each registration site in sufficient number to
provide a copy to any interested person, and to election officials to be posted
at the polling places on the day of the election. The State Board of Elections
also shall cause the explanation information to be published by
paid advertisement in each daily newspaper with an average daily circulation of
more than 50,000 in Virginia, and published in Virginia or in a contiguous
state or district, once during the week preceding the final day for
registration and once during the week preceding the referendum.
The explanation information shall contain the
ballot question and either (i) a statement neutral explanation
of not more than 500 words on the proposed question, or (ii) for any bond
referendum, a fiscal impact statement. The neutral explanation or
the fiscal impact statement shall be presented in plain English, shall be
limited to a neutral explanation, and shall not present arguments by either
proponents or opponents of the proposal. The fiscal impact statement shall
include descriptions of the need for and anticipated uses of the bond proceeds.
The Division of Legislative Services, in consultation with such agencies of
state government as may be appropriate, including the Office of the Attorney
General, shall prepare the neutral explanation as part of the legislation
authorizing the referendum. The staff of the House Appropriations
Committee and Senate Finance Committee shall each prepare
a fiscal impact statement for any bond referendum and assist the
Division of Legislative Services in preparing the explanation as part of
the legislation authorizing the referendum.
The explanation shall be approved for distribution as to
form and content by the Committee on Privileges and Elections of the house of
introduction of the legislation authorizing the referendum. For purposes of
this section and § 30-19.9, "plain English" means written in
nontechnical, readily understandable language using words of common everyday
usage and avoiding legal terms and phrases or other terms and words of art
whose usage or special meaning primarily is limited to a particular field or
profession.
Any failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall not affect the validity of the statewide referendum.