24.2-706 - Duty of general registrar and electoral board on receipt of application; statement of voter.
§ 24.2-706. Duty of general registrar and electoral board onreceipt of application; statement of voter.
On receipt of an application for an absentee ballot, thegeneral registrar shall enroll the name and address of each registeredapplicant on an absentee voter applicant list that shall be maintained in theoffice of the general registrar with a file of the applications of the listedapplicants. The list shall be available for inspection and copying and theapplications shall be available for inspection only by any registered voterduring regular office hours. Upon request and for a reasonable fee, the StateBoard of Elections shall provide an electronic copy of the absentee voterapplicant list to any political party or candidate. Such list shall be usedonly for campaign and political purposes. Any list made available forinspection and copying under this section shall contain the post office box addressin lieu of the residence street address for any individual who has furnished atthe time of registration or subsequently, in addition to his street address, apost office box address pursuant to subsection B of § 24.2-418.
No list or application containing an individual's socialsecurity number, or any part thereof, or the individual's day and month ofbirth, shall be made available for inspection or copying by anyone. The StateBoard of Elections shall prescribe procedures for local electoral boards andgeneral registrars to make the information in the lists and applicationsavailable in a manner that does not reveal social security numbers or partsthereof, or an individual's day and month of birth.
The completion and timely delivery of an application for anabsentee ballot shall be construed to be an offer by the applicant to vote inthe election.
The general registrar shall note on each application receivedwhether the applicant is or is not a registered voter and notify the secretaryof the electoral board. In reviewing the application for an absentee ballot,the general registrar and electoral board shall not reject the application ofany individual because of an error or omission on any record or paper relatingto the application, if such error or omission is not material in determiningwhether such individual is qualified to vote absentee.
If the application has been properly completed and signed andthe applicant is a registered voter of the precinct in which he offers to vote,the electoral board shall, at the time when the printed ballots for theelection are available, send within three business days of receiving a properlycompleted application for an absentee ballot to the applicant by mail,obtaining a certificate of mailing, or deliver to him in person in the officeof the secretary or registrar, the following items and nothing else:
1. An envelope containing the folded ballot, sealed and marked"Ballot within. Do not open except in presence of a witness."
2. An envelope, with printing only on the flap side, forresealing the marked ballot, on which envelope is printed the following:
"Statement of Voter."
"I do hereby state, subject to felony penalties formaking false statements pursuant to § 24.2-1016, that my FULL NAME is ..............(last, first, middle); that I am now or have been at some time since lastNovember's general election a legal resident of ............... (STATE YOURLEGAL RESIDENCE IN VIRGINIA including the house number, street name or ruralroute address, city, zip code); that I received the enclosed ballot(s) uponapplication to the registrar of such county or city; that I opened the envelopemarked 'ballot within' and marked the ballot(s) in the presence of the witness,without assistance or knowledge on the part of anyone as to the manner in whichI marked it (or I am returning the form required to report how I was assisted);that I then sealed the ballot(s) in this envelope; and that I have not votedand will not vote in this election at any other time or place.
Signature of Voter ....................
Date ....................
Signature of witness ................... "
For elections held after January 1, 2004, instead of theenvelope containing the above oath, an envelope containing the standard oath prescribedby the presidential designee under § 101(b)(7) of the Uniformed and OverseasCitizens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. § 1973ff et seq.) shall be sent tovoters who are qualified to vote absentee under that Act.
3. A properly addressed envelope for the return of the ballotto the electoral board by mail or by the applicant in person.
4. Printed instructions for completing the ballot andstatement on the envelope and returning the ballot.
For federal elections held after January 1, 2004, for any voterwho is required by subparagraph (b) of 42 U.S.C.S. § 15483 of the Help AmericaVote Act of 2002 to show identification the first time the voter votes in afederal election in the state, the printed instructions shall direct the voterto submit with his ballot: (i) a copy of a current and valid photoidentification; or (ii) a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement,government check, paycheck or other document that shows the name and address ofthe voter. Such individual who desires to vote by mail but who does not submitone of the forms of identification specified in this paragraph may cast suchballot by mail and the ballot shall be counted as a provisional ballot underthe provisions of § 24.2-653. The State Board of Elections shall provide instructionsto the electoral boards for the handling and counting of such provisionalballots pursuant to subsection B of § 24.2-653 and this section.
5. For any voter entitled to vote absentee under the Uniformedand Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (42 U.S.C. § 1973ff et seq.),information provided by the State Board specific to the voting rights andresponsibilities for such citizens, or information provided by the registrarspecific to the status of the voter registration and absentee ballot applicationof such voter, may be included.
The envelopes and instructions shall be in the form prescribedby the State Board.
If the applicant makes his application to vote in person under§ 24.2-701 at a time when the printed ballots for the election are available,the general registrar or the secretary of the electoral board, on thedetermination of the qualifications of the applicant to vote, shall provide tothe applicant the items set forth in subdivisions 1 through 4, and no itemshall be removed by the applicant from the office of the general registrar orthe secretary of the electoral board. On the request of the applicant, made nolater than 5:00 p.m. on the seventh day prior to the election in which theapplicant offers to vote, the general registrar or the secretary may send theitems set forth in subdivisions 1 through 4 to the applicant by mail, obtaininga certificate of mailing.
If the applicant states as the reason for his absence onelection day any of the reasons set forth in subdivision 2 of § 24.2-700, theelectoral board, at the time when the printed ballots for the election areavailable, shall mail within three business days or deliver in person to theapplicant in the office of the secretary or general registrar the items as setforth in subdivisions 1 through 4 and, if necessary, an application forregistration. A certificate of mailing shall not be required. The electoralboard, at the time when the printed ballots for the election are available,shall send within three business days the blank ballot, the form for theenvelope for returning the marked ballot, and instructions to the voter byelectronic transmission if the voter so requests. The voted ballot shall bereturned to the electoral board as otherwise required by this chapter.
When the statement prescribed in subdivision 2 has beenproperly completed and signed by the registered voter and witnessed, his ballotshall not be subject to challenge pursuant to § 24.2-651.
The circuit courts shall have jurisdiction to issue an injunctionto enforce the provisions of this section upon the application of (i) anyaggrieved voter, (ii) any candidate in an election district in whole or in partin the court's jurisdiction where a violation of this section has occurred, oris likely to occur, or (iii) the campaign committee or the appropriate districtpolitical party chairman of such candidate. Any person who fails to dischargehis duty as provided in this section through willful neglect of duty and withmalicious intent shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor as provided insubsection A of § 24.2-1001.
(Code 1950, §§ 24-327, 24-332, 24-333, 24-345.6, 24-345.7;1952, c. 509; 1956, c. 525; 1958, c. 351; 1970, c. 462, § 24.1-229; 1971, Ex.Sess., cc. 119, 247, 265; 1972, c. 620; 1974, c. 428; 1975, c. 515; 1977, c.490; 1978, c. 778; 1980, c. 639; 1981, c. 425; 1983, c. 461; 1988, cc. 624,691; 1993, c. 641; 1994, cc. 633, 656; 1996, c. 253; 2000, c. 421; 2001, cc.621, 866; 2002, cc. 785, 819; 2003, cc. 247, 478; 2004, c. 410; 2006, c. 438; 2007,c. 318; 2008, cc. 106, 300, 379; 2009, cc. 345, 405, 873; 2010, cc. 213, 316,449, 538, 645, 812.)