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1996 SESSION


CHAPTER 223
An Act to amend and reenact §§ 24.2-671 and 24.2-675 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the determination of the results of the elections and abstracts of results.
[H 404]
Approved March 16, 1996

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 24.2-671 and 24.2-675 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 24.2-671. Electoral board to meet and ascertain results; conclusiveness of results.

Each electoral board shall meet at the clerk'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 the principal office of the general registrar. It shall open the returns delivered to the clerk's office by the officers.

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 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.

§ 24.2-675. Abstracts of votes to be made by secretary and forwarded to State Board and to clerks.

As soon as the electoral board determines the persons who have received the highest number of votes for any office, the secretary shall make out an abstract of the votes for each of the following: Governor; Lieutenant Governor; Attorney General; members of the Senate of Virginia; members of the House of Delegates; members of the United States Senate; members of the United States House of Representatives; electors of the President and Vice-President of the United States; each county office; each city office; each district office; each town office; and such others as may be required for statewide referenda. The abstracts shall contain the names of all persons receiving any vote for each office and the total number of votes received by each person or for or against each question. However, if the total number of write-in votes for any 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 abstract shall contain only the total number of write-in votes and not the number of write-in votes for each person receiving write-in votes.

The abstracts, shall be certified and signed by the electoral board, attested by the secretary, and retained by the electoral board as part of its records. A copy of each, certified under the official seal of the electoral board, shall immediately be mailed or delivered by hand to the State Board. The State Board shall require the electoral board of any county or city to correct any errors found on such abstracts prior to completing the requirements of § 24.2-679.

One certified copy of each abstract of votes shall be forwarded (i) to the clerk of the city council or board of supervisors and recorded in its record book, (ii) for town elections, to the clerk of the town council and recorded in its minute book, and (iii) for each local referendum, to the circuit court for the locality.