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Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
1996 SESSION
965432761Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 24.2-542, 24.2-543, and 24.2-614 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 24.2-542. State Board to be furnished names of electors selected by political parties.
In elections for President and Vice-President of the United States, the state
chairman or the secretary of each political party shall furnish to the State
Board by noon of the seventy-fourth
sixty-seventh day before the
presidential election the names of the electors selected by the party at its
convention held for that purpose, together with the names of the political
party and of the candidates for President and Vice-President for whom the
electors are expected to vote in the Electoral College. In the event of the
death or withdrawal of a candidate of a political party for President or
Vice-President, that party may substitute the name of a different candidate
before the State Board certifies to the county and city electoral boards the
form of the official ballots. The State Board shall also be furnished, if it
requests, with satisfactory evidence that any person undertaking to act as an
elector on behalf of any political party is, in fact, duly and properly
authorized to do so.
§ 24.2-543. How other groups may submit names of electors.
A group of qualified voters, not constituting a political party as defined in
§ 24.2-101, may have the names of electors selected by them, including one
elector residing in each congressional district and two from the Commonwealth
at large, printed upon the official ballot to be used in the election of
electors for President and Vice-President by filing a petition pursuant to this
section. The petition shall be filed with the State Board by noon of the
seventy-fourth sixty-seventh day
before the presidential election. The petition shall be signed by qualified
voters equal in number to at least one-half of one percent of the number of
voters registered in the Commonwealth as of January 1 of the year of the
presidential election and include signatures of at least 200 qualified voters
from each congressional district. The petition shall be signed by petitioners
on and after January 1 of the year of the presidential election only and
contain the residence address of each petitioner. The signature of each
petitioner shall be witnessed by a qualified voter who is a resident of the
same or a contiguous congressional district as the voter whose signature is
witnessed, and whose affidavit to that effect appears on each page of the
petition. The petition shall state the names of the electors selected by the
petitioners, the party name under which they desire the named electors to be
listed on the ballot, and the names of the candidates for President and
Vice-President for whom the electors are expected to vote in the Electoral
College. In order to utilize a selected party name on the ballot, the
petitioners shall have had a state central committee composed of registered
voters from each congressional district of the Commonwealth, a party plan and
bylaws, and a duly designated chairman and secretary in existence and holding
office for at least six months prior to filing the petition. The State Board
may require proof that the petitioners meet these requirements before
permitting use of a party name on the ballot. The party name shall not be
identical with or substantially similar to the name of any political party
qualifying under § 24.2-101 and then in existence.
In the event of the death or withdrawal of a candidate for President or Vice-President qualified to appear on the ballot by party name, that party may substitute the name of a different candidate before the State Board certifies to the county and city electoral boards the form of the official ballots.
In the event that a group of qualified voters meets the requirements set forth in this section except that they cannot utilize a party name, the electors selected and the candidates for President and Vice-President shall be identified and designated as "Independent" on the ballot. Substitution of a different candidate for Vice-President may be made by the candidate for President before the State Board certifies to the county and city electoral boards the form of the official ballot.
§ 24.2-614. Preparation and form of presidential election ballots.
As soon as practicable after the seventy-fourth
sixty-seventh day before the presidential election,
the State Board shall certify to the secretary of each county and city
electoral board the form of official ballot for the presidential election which
shall be uniform throughout the Commonwealth. Each electoral board shall have
the official ballot printed at least forty-five days preceding the election.
The ballot shall contain the name of each political party and the party group name, if any, specified by the persons naming electors by petition pursuant to § 24.2-543. Below the party name in parentheses, the ballot shall contain the words "Electors for .........., President and .........., Vice-President" with the blanks filled in with the names of the candidates for President and Vice-President for whom the candidates for electors are expected to vote in the Electoral College. The names of the electors nominated by each political party or group of petitioners shall follow the name of each political party and party designation, and a printed square shall precede the name of each political party or party designation.
Groups of petitioners qualifying for a party name under § 24.2-543 shall be treated as a class; the order of the groups shall be determined by lot by the State Board; and the groups shall immediately follow the independent class on the ballot. The order of the candidates within the independent class shall be determined by lot by the State Board.