24.2-506 - Petition of qualified voters required; number of signatures required; certain towns excepted.
§ 24.2-506. Petition of qualified voters required; number of signaturesrequired; certain towns excepted.
The name of any candidate for any office, other than a party nominee, shallnot be printed upon any official ballots provided for the election unless heshall file along with his declaration of candidacy a petition therefor, on aform prescribed by the State Board, signed by the number of qualified votersspecified below after January 1 of the year in which the election is held andlisting the residence address of each such voter. Each signature on thepetition shall have been witnessed by a person who is himself a qualifiedvoter, or qualified to register to vote, for the office for which he iscirculating the petition and whose affidavit to that effect appears on eachpage of the petition.
Each voter signing the petition may provide on the petition the last fourdigits of his social security number, if any; however, noncompliance withthis requirement shall not be cause to invalidate the voter's signature onthe petition.
The minimum number of signatures of qualified voters required for candidatepetitions shall be as follows:
1. For a candidate for the United States Senate, Governor, LieutenantGovernor, or Attorney General, 10,000 signatures, including the signatures ofat least 400 qualified voters from each congressional district in theCommonwealth;
2. For a candidate for the United States House of Representatives, 1,000signatures;
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 or elected schoolboard of any county or city, 125 signatures; or if from an election districtnot at large containing 1,000 or fewer registered voters, 50 signatures;
6. For a candidate for membership on the governing body or elected schoolboard of any town which has more than 1,500 registered voters, 125signatures; or if from a ward or other district not at large, 25 signatures;
7. For membership on the governing body or elected school board of any townwhich has 1,500 or fewer registered voters, no petition shall be required;
8. For a candidate for director of a soil and water conservation districtcreated pursuant to Article 3 (§ 10.1-506 et seq.) of Chapter 5 of Title10.1, 25 signatures; and
9. For any other candidate, 50 signatures.
(Code 1950, § 24-133; 1970, c. 462, § 24.1-168; 1971, Ex. Sess., cc. 119,247; 1978, c. 778; 1980, c. 639; 1982, c. 650; 1983, c. 188; 1987, c. 118;1989, c. 141; 1992, c. 855; 1993, cc. 407, 641; 1998, cc. 152, 246; 2000, cc.232, 252; 2001, c. 53; 2003, c. 477; 2010, c. 215.)