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2010 SESSION

10103388D
HOUSE BILL NO. 499
Offered January 13, 2010
Prefiled January 12, 2010
A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 24.2-521 and 24.2-522 of the Code of Virginia, relating to candidates for office; nominating petitions.
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Patron-- Lingamfelter
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Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1.  That §§ 24.2-521 and 24.2-522 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 24.2-521. Petition required to accompany declaration; number of signatures required.

A candidate for nomination by primary for any office shall be required to file with his declaration of candidacy a petition for his name to be printed on the official primary ballot, on a form prescribed by the State Board, signed by the number of qualified voters specified below after January 1 of the year in which the election is held or before or after said date in the case of a March primary, and listing the residence address of each such voter. Each signature on the petition shall have been witnessed by a person who is himself a qualified voter, or qualified to register to vote, for the office for which he is circulating the petition and whose affidavit to that effect appears on each page of the petition.

Each voter signing the petition shall may provide on the petition the last four digits of his social security number, if any; however, noncompliance with this requirement shall not be cause to invalidate the voter's signature on the petition.

The minimum number of signatures of qualified voters required for primary candidate petitions shall be as follows:

1. For a candidate for the United States Senate, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Attorney General, 10,000 signatures, including the signatures of at least 400 qualified voters from each congressional district in the Commonwealth;

2. For a candidate for the United States House of Representatives, 1,000 signatures;

3. For a candidate for the Senate of Virginia, 250 signatures;

4. For a candidate for the House of Delegates or for a constitutional office, 125 signatures;

5. For a candidate for membership on the governing body of any county or city, 125 signatures; or if from an election district not at large containing 1,000 or fewer registered voters, 50 signatures;

6. For a candidate for membership on the governing body of any town which has more than 1,500 registered voters, 125 signatures; or if from a ward or other district not at large, 25 signatures;

7. For membership on the governing body of any town which has 1,500 or fewer registered voters, no petition shall be required; and

8. For any other candidate, 50 signatures.

§ 24.2-522. When and to whom filings to be made.

A. Declarations of candidacy, petitions, and receipts indicating the payment of filing fees shall be filed not earlier than noon of the seventy-seventh day and not later than 5:00 p.m. of the sixtieth day before the primary.

B. Except as provided in subsection C, candidates for nomination shall file their declarations, petitions, and receipts with the chairman or chairmen of the several committees of the respective parties. The candidate shall provide an additional copy of the petitions to the local electoral board in the city or county where the candidate resides. Such additional copy of the petitions shall be available to the public at the offices of the local electoral board from the first working day following submission until 5:00 p.m. on the fifth working day following the primary, after which the local electoral board shall destroy such additional copy of the petitions.

C. Any candidate for nomination for United States Senator, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Attorney General shall file with the State Board (i) his declaration of candidacy, (ii) the petitions for his candidacy, sealed in one or more containers to which is attached a written statement under oath by the candidate giving his name and the number of signatures on the petitions contained in the containers, and (iii) a receipt indicating the payment of his filing fee.

The State Board shall transmit the material so filed to the state chairman of the party of the candidate on the fifty-ninth day before the primary. The sealed containers containing the petitions for a candidate may be opened only by the state chairman of the party of the candidate.