24.2-521 - Petition required to accompany declaration; number of signatures required.
§ 24.2-521. Petition required to accompany declaration; number of signaturesrequired.
A candidate for nomination by primary for any office shall be required tofile with his declaration of candidacy a petition for his name to be printedon the official primary ballot, on a form prescribed by the State Board,signed by the number of qualified voters specified below after January 1 ofthe year in which the election is held or before or after said date in thecase of a March primary, and listing the residence address of each suchvoter. Each signature on the petition shall have been witnessed by a personwho is himself a qualified voter, or qualified to register to vote, for theoffice for which he is circulating the petition and whose affidavit to thateffect appears on each page 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 primarycandidate petitions 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 of any county orcity, 125 signatures; or if from an election district not at large containing1,000 or fewer registered voters, 50 signatures;
6. For a candidate for membership on the governing body of any town which hasmore than 1,500 registered voters, 125 signatures; or if from a ward or otherdistrict not at large, 25 signatures;
7. For membership on the governing body of any town which has 1,500 or fewerregistered voters, no petition shall be required; and
8. For any other candidate, 50 signatures.
(Code 1950, § 24-373; 1952, c. 523; 1970, c. 462, § 24.1-185; 1971, Ex.Sess., cc. 119, 247; 1972, c. 620; 1978, c. 778; 1980, c. 639; 1982, c. 650;1983, c. 188; 1989, c. 141; 1992, c. 855; 1993, cc. 407, 641; 1998, cc. 152,246; 2000, cc. 232, 252; 2003, c. 477; 2010, c. 215.)